BOY

boy

(noun) a friendly informal reference to a grown man; “he likes to play golf with the boys”

son, boy

(noun) a male human offspring; “their son became a famous judge”; “his boy is taller than he is”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

boy (countable and uncountable, plural boys)

A young male. [from 15th c.]

(particularly) A male child or teenager, as distinguished from infants or adults.

(diminutive) A male child: a son of any age.

(affectionate, diminutive) A male of any age, particularly one rather younger than the speaker. [from 17th c.]

(obsolete) A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave. [14th-17th c.]

(now, rare and usually, offensive outside some Commonwealth nations) A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, [from 14th c.] particularly:

A younger such worker.

(historical or offensive) A non-white male servant regardless of age, [from 17th c.] particularly as a form of address.

(obsolete) A male camp follower.

(now, offensive) Any non-white male, regardless of age. [from 19th c.]

A male animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male dog. [from 15th c.]

(historical, military) A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.

(US, slang, uncountable) Heroin. [from 20th c.]

(somewhat, childish) A male (tree, gene, etc).

Synonyms

• (young male): See boy

• (diminutive term of address to males): chap, guy, lad, mate

• (son): See son

• (male servant): manservant

• (disreputable man): brat, knave, squirt

• (heroin): See heroin

Antonyms

• (young male): See girl

Interjection

boy

Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.

Verb

boy (third-person singular simple present boys, present participle boying, simple past and past participle boyed)

To use the word “boy” to refer to someone.

(transitive) To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).

Anagrams

• BYO, Y. O. B., Y.O.B., YOB, YoB, byo, oby, yob

Source: Wiktionary


Boy, n. Etym: [Cf. D. boef, Fries. boi, boy; akin to G. bube, Icel. bofi rouge.]

Definition: A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad; hence, a son. My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee. Sir W. Scott.

Note: Boy is often used as a term of comradeship, as in college, or in the army or navy. In the plural used colloquially of members of an assosiaton, fraternity, or party. Boy bishop, a boy (usually a chorister) elected bishop, in old Christian sports, and invested with robes and other insignia. He practiced a kind of mimicry of the ceremonies in which the bishop usually officiated. The Old Boy, the Devil. [Slang] -- Yellow boys, guineas. [Slang, Eng.] -- Boy's love, a popular English name of Southernwood (Artemisia abrotonum);) -- called also lad's love.

– Boy's play, childish amusements; anything trifling.

Boy, v. t.

Definition: To act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage. I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

23 November 2024

THEORETICAL

(adjective) concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; “theoretical science”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest iced coffee is 14,228.1 liters and was created by Caffé Bene (South Korea), in Yangju, South Korea, on 17 July 2014. They poured iced black Americano on the giant cup that measured 3.3 meters tall and 2.62 meters wide.

coffee icon