Adjacent Words

Miss definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MISS, n.
1. The title of a young woman or girl; as little masters and misses.
2. A kept mistress; a prostitute retained; a concubine.
MISS, v.t. [L. mitto, misi; omitto, omisi.]
1. To fail in aim; to fail of reaching the object; not to hit; as, to miss the mark; to miss the object intended.
2. To fail of finding the right way; to err in attempting to find; as, to miss the way or the road.
3. To fail of obtaining.
Orgalus feared nothing but to miss Parthenia.
4. To learn or discover that something is wanting, or not where it was supposed to be; as, to miss one's snuff-box; I missed the first volume of Livy.
Neither missed we any thing--. Nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. 2 Samuel 25.
5. To be without; as, we cannot miss him.
6. To omit; to pass by; to go without; to fail to have; as, to miss a meal of victuals.
She would never miss one day
A walk so fine, a sight so gay.
7. To perceive the want of.
What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss,
He who has a firm sincere friend, may want all the rest without missing them.
8. To fail of seeing or finding.
MISS, v.i. To fail to hit; to fly wide; to deviate from the true direction.
Flying bullets now,
To execute his rage, appear too slow;
They miss, or sweep but common souls away.
1. Not to succeed; to fail.
Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss--
2. To fail; to miscarry, as by accident.
The invention all admired, and each, how he
To be the inventor missed.
3. To fail to obtain, learn or find; with of.
On the least reflection, we can miss of them.
4. To fail; to mistake.
MISS, n. Loss; want.
There will be no great miss of those which are lost.
1. Mistake; error.
He did without any great miss in the hardest points of grammar. [Little used.]
2. Harm from mistake.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a young woman; "a young lady of 18" [syn: girl, miss, missy, young lady, young woman, fille]
2: a failure to hit (or meet or find etc) [syn: miss, misfire]
3: a form of address for an unmarried woman v
1: fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind; "I missed that remark"; "She missed his point"; "We lost part of what he said" [syn: miss, lose]
2: feel or suffer from the lack of; "He misses his mother"
3: fail to attend an event or activity; "I missed the concert"; "He missed school for a week" [ant: attend, go to]
4: leave undone or leave out; "How could I miss that typo?"; "The workers on the conveyor belt miss one out of ten" [syn: neglect, pretermit, omit, drop, miss, leave out, overlook, overleap] [ant: attend to, take to heart]
5: fail to reach or get to; "She missed her train"
6: be without; "This soup lacks salt"; "There is something missing in my jewelry box!" [syn: miss, lack] [ant: feature, have]
7: fail to reach; "The arrow missed the target" [ant: collide with, hit, impinge on, run into, strike]
8: be absent; "The child had been missing for a week"
9: fail to experience; "Fortunately, I missed the hurricane" [syn: miss, escape]

Merriam Webster's

abbreviation Mississippi

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English missan; akin to Old High German missan to miss Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to fail to hit, reach, or contact <miss the target> 2. to discover or feel the absence of 3. to fail to obtain 4. escape, avoid <just missed hitting the other car> 5. to leave out ; omit 6. to fail to comprehend, sense, or experience <missed the point of the speech> 7. to fail to perform or attend <had to miss school for a week> intransitive verb 1. archaic to fail to get, reach, or do something 2. to fail to hit something 3. a. to be unsuccessful b. misfire <the engine missed> • missable adjective II. noun Date: 12th century 1. chiefly dialect disadvantage or regret resulting from loss <we know the miss of you, and even hunger…to see you — Samuel Richardson> 2. a. a failure to hit b. a failure to attain a desired result 3. misfire III. noun Etymology: short for mistress Date: 1667 1. capitalized a. — used as a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or girl b. — used before the name of a place or of a line of activity or before some epithet to form a title for a usually young unmarried female who is representative of the thing indicated <Miss America> 2. young lady — used without a name as a conventional term of address to a young woman 3. a young unmarried woman or girl 4. plural a clothing size for women of average height and build

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v. & n. --v. 1 tr. (also absol.) fail to hit, reach, find, catch, etc. (an object or goal). 2 tr. fail to catch (a bus, train, etc.). 3 tr. fail to experience, see, or attend (an occurrence or event). 4 tr. fail to meet (a person); fail to keep (an appointment). 5 tr. fail to seize (an opportunity etc.) (I missed my chance). 6 tr. fail to hear or understand (I'm sorry, I missed what you said). 7 tr. a regret the loss or absence of (a person or thing) (did you miss me while I was away?). b notice the loss or absence of (an object) (bound to miss the key if it isn't there). 8 tr. avoid (go early to miss the traffic). 9 tr. = miss out 1. 10 intr. (of an engine etc.) fail, misfire. --n. 1 a failure to hit, reach, attain, connect, etc. 2 colloq. = MISCARRIAGE 1. Phrases and idioms: be missing not have (see also MISSING adj.). give (a thing) a miss avoid, leave alone (gave the party a miss). miss the boat (or bus) lose an opportunity. miss fire (of a gun) fail to go off or hit the mark (cf. MISFIRE). a miss is as good as a mile the fact of failure or escape is not affected by the narrowness of the margin. miss out 1 omit, leave out (missed out my name from the list). 2 (usu. foll. by on) colloq. fail to get or experience (always misses out on the good times). not miss much be alert. not miss a trick never fail to seize an opportunity, advantage, etc. Derivatives: missable adj. Etymology: OE missan f. Gmc 2. n. 1 a girl or unmarried woman. 2 (Miss) a the title of an unmarried woman or girl, or of a married woman retaining her maiden name for professional purposes. b the title of a beauty queen (Miss World). 3 usu. derog. or joc. a girl, esp. a schoolgirl, with implications of silliness etc. 4 the title used to address a female schoolteacher, shop assistant, etc. Derivatives: missish adj. (in sense 3). Etymology: abbr. of MISTRESS

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Miss Miss, n.; pl. Misses. [Contr. fr. mistress.] 1. A title of courtesy prefixed to the name of a girl or a woman who has not been married. See Mistress, 5. Note: There is diversity of usage in the application of this title to two or more persons of the same name. We may write either the Miss Browns or the Misses Brown. 2. A young unmarried woman or a girl; as, she is a miss of sixteen. Gay vanity, with smiles and kisses, Was busy 'mongst the maids and misses. --Cawthorn. 3. A kept mistress. See Mistress, 4. [Obs.] --Evelyn. 4. (Card Playing) In the game of three-card loo, an extra hand, dealt on the table, which may be substituted for the hand dealt to a player.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Miss Miss, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Missed; p. pr. & vb. n. Missing.] [AS. missan; akin to D. & G. missen, OHG. missan, Icel. missa, Sw. mista, Dan. miste. [root]100. See Mis-, pref.] 1. To fail of hitting, reaching, getting, finding, seeing, hearing, etc.; as, to miss the mark one shoots at; to miss the train by being late; to miss opportunites of getting knowledge; to miss the point or meaning of something said. When a man misses his great end, happiness, he will acknowledge he judged not right. --Locke. 2. To omit; to fail to have or to do; to get without; to dispense with; -- now seldom applied to persons. She would never miss, one day, A walk so fine, a sight so gay. --Prior. We cannot miss him; he does make our fire, Fetch in our wood. --Shak. 3. To discover the absence or omission of; to feel the want of; to mourn the loss of; to want. --Shak. Neither missed we anything . . . Nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him. --1 Sam. xxv. 15, 21. What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss. --Milton. To miss stays. (Naut.) See under Stay.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Miss Miss, v. i. 1. To fail to hit; to fly wide; to deviate from the true direction. Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss. --Bacon. Flying bullets now, To execute his rage, appear too slow; They miss, or sweep but common souls away. --Waller. 2. To fail to obtain, learn, or find; -- with of. Upon the least reflection, we can not miss of them. --Atterbury. 3. To go wrong; to err. [Obs.] Amongst the angels, a whole legion Of wicked sprites did fall from happy bliss; What wonder then if one, of women all, did miss? --Spenser. 4. To be absent, deficient, or wanting. [Obs.] See Missing, a. What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Miss Miss, n. 1. The act of missing; failure to hit, reach, find, obtain, etc. 2. Loss; want; felt absence. [Obs.] There will be no great miss of those which are lost. --Locke. 3. Mistake; error; fault. --Shak. He did without any great miss in the hardest points of grammar. --Ascham. 4. Harm from mistake. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(Misses) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use Miss in front of the name of a girl or unmarried woman when you are speaking to her or referring to her. It was nice talking to you, Miss Giroux... N-TITLE 2. In some schools, children address their women teachers as Miss. (mainly BRIT) 'Chivers!'—'Yes, Miss?' N-VOC

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(misses, missing, missed) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. Please look at category 11 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword. 1. If you miss something, you fail to hit it, for example when you have thrown something at it or you have shot a bullet at it. She hurled the ashtray across the room, narrowly missing my head... When I'd missed a few times, he suggested I rest the rifle on a rock to steady it. ? hit VERB: V n, V • Miss is also a noun. After more misses, they finally put two arrows into the lion's chest. N-COUNT 2. In sport, if you miss a shot, you fail to get the ball in the goal, net, or hole. He scored four of the goals but missed a penalty. VERB: V n, also V • Miss is also a noun. Striker Alan Smith was guilty of two glaring misses. N-COUNT 3. If you miss something, you fail to notice it. From this vantage point he watched, his searching eye never missing a detail... It's the first thing you see as you come round the corner. You can't miss it... ? notice VERB: V n, V n 4. If you miss the meaning or importance of something, you fail to understand or appreciate it. Tambov had slightly missed the point... ? get VERB: V n 5. If you miss a chance or opportunity, you fail to take advantage of it. Williams knew that she had missed her chance of victory... It was too good an opportunity to miss. ? seize VERB: V n, V n 6. If you miss someone who is no longer with you or who has died, you feel sad and wish that they were still with you. Your mama and I are gonna miss you at Christmas... VERB: V n 7. If you miss something, you feel sad because you no longer have it or are no longer doing or experiencing it. I could happily move back into a flat if it wasn't for the fact that I'd miss my garden... He missed having good friends. VERB: V n/-ing, V n/-ing 8. If you miss something such as a plane or train, you arrive too late to catch it. He missed the last bus home. ? catch VERB: V n 9. If you miss something such as a meeting or an activity, you do not go to it or take part in it. It's a pity Makku and I had to miss our lesson last week... 'Are you coming to the show?'—'I wouldn't miss it for the world.' VERB: V n, V n 10. If you give something a miss, you decide not to do it or not to go to it. (BRIT INFORMAL) Do you mind if I give it a miss? PHRASE: V inflects 11. to miss the boat: see boat not to miss a trick: see trick see also missing, hit and miss, near miss

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Fail to hit, fail to reach, fail of hitting, fail of reaching. 2. Lose, fail of finding. 3. Forego, pass by, leave out, go without, omit, dispense with. 4. Feel the want of, feel the loss of, require, want, desiderate. II. v. n. 1. Fail to hit, fall short, miss one's aim, fly wide. 2. Fail, miscarry, not succeed, come to nothing, end in smoke. 3. Fail, mistake, err, trip, slip, fall. III. n. 1. Blunder, slip, trip, oversight, failure, fault, mistake, error, omission. 2. Loss, want, felt absence. 3. Girl, lass, maiden, damsel, maid, young lady. 4. Spinster, unmarried woman, maiden, maid.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A miss or kept mistress; a harlot.

Moby Thesaurus

abandon, avoid, babe, baby, bachelor girl, be bereaved of, be blind to, be caught out, be inattentive, be unwary, bird, blink at, blunder, broad, bungle, chick, clerical error, coed, colleen, come short, connive at, corrigendum, cut, cutie, dame, damoiselle, damsel, default, demoiselle, discount, disregard, dodge, doll, drop, err, erratum, error, escape, evade, fail, failure, fall down, fall short, fault, faute, filly, foozle, forfeit, forget, forgo, frail, gal, girl, girlie, give no heed, go amiss, go astray, go astray from, goldbrick, goof, goof off, groupie, hear nothing, heifer, hoyden, human error, ignore, incur loss, jeune fille, jill, jump, junior miss, kiss good-bye, lack, lass, lassie, leave, leave loose ends, leave out, leave undone, let alone, let be, let dangle, let go, let pass, let slip, little missy, long for, lose, lose out, mademoiselle, maid, maiden, make light of, malinger, misapprehend, misapprehension, miscalculation, miscarriage, miscarry, misconceive, misconception, misconstrue, miscount, misdeal, misexplain, misfire, misidentification, misinterpret, misjudgment, mislay, misplace, misplay, misprint, misquotation, misread, misreport, miss out, miss stays, miss the boat, miss the mark, misstatement, missy, mistake, mistranslate, misunderstand, misunderstanding, misuse, near-miss, need, not attend, not bear inspection, not hack it, not heed, not listen, not make it, not measure up, not notice, not pass muster, not qualify, nymph, nymphet, old maid, omission, omit, overlook, oversight, pass, pass by, pass over, pass up, pay no attention, pay no mind, piece, pine for, pretermit, procrastinate, require, romp, run short of, sacrifice, schoolgirl, schoolmaid, schoolmiss, see nothing, shirk, skip, skirt, slack, slight, slip, slip up, slipup, spinster, subdeb, subdebutante, subteen, subteener, suffer loss, teenager, teenybopper, think little of, tomato, tomboy, trifle, typo, typographical error, undergo privation, virgin, wander from, want, wench, wink at, wish for, yearn for, young creature, young thing

Moby Thesaurus

Frau, Fraulein, Mistress, Mlle, Mme, Mmes, dame, dona, donna, lady, madam, madame, mademoiselle, mem-sahib, mesdames, senhora, senhorita, signora, signorina, vrouw