cheer

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
cheer/tʃɪə(r)/

▶verb

• 1 shout in praise, joy, or encouragement.

  ■ praise or encourage with shouts.

• 2 give comfort or support to.

  ■ (cheer someone up or cheer up) make or become less miserable.

▶noun

• 1 a shout of encouragement, praise, or joy.

• 2 (also good cheer) cheerfulness; optimism.

• 3 food and drink provided for a festive occasion.

– phrases
three cheers three successive hurrahs expressing appreciation or congratulation.

– origin ME (in the sense ‘face’, hence ‘expression, mood’, later ‘a good mood’): from OFr. chiere ‘face’, from late L. cara, from Gk kara ‘head’.