hello |həˈlō; heˈlō; ˈhelō| (also hallo or chiefly Brit. hullo)exclamationused as a greeting : hello there, Katie!• used to begin a telephone conversation : Hello? Connor speaking.• Brit. used to express surprise : hello, what's all this then?• used as a cry to attract someone's attention : “Hello below!” he cried.• |həˈlō; heˈlō| [often pronounced with a rising–falling intonation pattern and a prolonged final vowel] expressing sarcasm or anger : hello! did you even get what the play was about?noun ( pl. -los)an utterance of “hello”; a greeting : she was getting polite nods and hellos from people.verb ( -loes, -loed) [ intrans. ]say or shout “hello”; greet someone.ORIGIN late 19th cent.: variant of earlier hollo; related to holla.USAGE The pronunciation given above for the sense 'expressing sarcasm or anger' shows an unusual instance in English of intonation conveying meaning. Another example would be the lengthening of the 'oō' vowel in the expression “excuse me” to indicate sarcasm.