aye aye

• ay, ay; aye, aye; aye-aye

• IPA^(key): /ˈaɪˈaɪ/
• Rhymes: -aɪ

Reduplication of aye (“yes”).

aye aye

1. (nautical) Response to ahoy if a commissioned officer is in the boat.
2. (nautical) I acknowledge and will comply.

• aye aye, sir

aye aye

1. (regional) Used as a greeting or introduction, often expressing caution, surprise, or curiosity.
   • 1779, Hugh Downman, act III, scene III, in Lucius Junius Brutus; or, The Expulsion of the Tarquins: An Historical Play, London: […] J[ohn] Wilkie, […] Fielding and Walker, […] G[eorge] Kearsley, […] P[eter] Elsmley,^[sic] […] W[illiam] Davis, […], →OCLC, page 73:

     titus. Brutus, I heard the ſtrangeſt thing laſt week!-⁠-⁠- brutus. Aye, aye! What was it? Tell me.

   • 1854, F[red] A[rthur] Neale, “Evening the Fourth”, in Evenings at Antioch; with Sketches of Syrian Life, London: Eyre and Williams, […], →OCLC, page 126:

     “One night the voice of the bulbul was echoing louder than ever through the desolate old castle, and the miser’s heart trembled with anxiety and fear. […] / “‘Drat the bird!’ quoth the miser. ‘Her hateful song draws silly people forth from their homes even at this late hour, till darkness and the terror connected with this neighbourhood are fast being overcome. Drat the bird!’ / “‘Aye, aye! What’s that you say?’ growled a deep, unmelodious voice close to the startled miser’s ear. ‘Drat the bird, sir? Why, that bird is our sovereign lady the Queen of the Forest.’[”]

   • 1982, Phil Redmond, Brookside, episode 1, shooting script, Liverpool, Merseyside: Mersey Television, page 58; quoted in “just a minute”, under “just, adv.”, in OED Online‎^[1], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, archived from the original on 27 July 2025:

     Aye Aye. Just a minute pal. Where d'you think you're going?

   • 2015 May 23, Martin Toop, “Audits needed”, in Waikato Times, Hamilton, Waikato, →ISSN, →OCLC, page B6:

     At regular intervals we are told of increased funding for this and that. Is this increase made possible because cuts have been made elsewhere? Such is my lack of trust that my immediate thought is aye, aye who’s lost out?

• “ay ay” under “ay, int.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.