boy Hear it!

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boy definition

boy (bo̵i)

noun

  1. a male child from birth to the age of physical maturity; lad; youth
  2. a man regarded as immature or callow
  3. any man; fellow: familiar term
  4. a male domestic worker or servant: a patronizing term applied esp. by Caucasians to nonwhites
  5. a bellboy, messenger boy, etc.
  6. Informal a son Mrs. Dill's oldest boy

Etymology: ME boie, servant, commoner, knave, boy < ? OFr embuié, one fettered < embuier, to chain < em-, en- + L boiae, fetters, orig., leather collar for the neck < bos, ox, cow

interjection

Slang used to express pleasure, surprise, etc.
often oh, boy!

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

idioms boy idiom

boy Synonyms

boy

n.

lad, youth, youngster, young man, schoolboy, stripling, fellow, master, cadet, whippersnapper, son, male child, junior, little gentleman, tad, little guy*, small fry*, puppy*, shaver*; see also child.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

boy Usage Examples

Possessives

  • butcher: In 1984 he returned as a butcher's boy, on the day of the sponsored walk.

Converse of object

  • kill: In 1876 a number of dilapidated houses in Walsall Street collapsed killing a boy, one Edwin Brown.

Adjective modifier

  • teenage: I have a wife and two teenage boys who I have put through hell.

Modifies a noun

  • racer: There's no more speeding for boy racer now He must learn to kill his speed somehow.

Noun used with modifier

  • errand: Educated at a local elementary school, he left at fourteen be become an errand boy.
boy usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

boy quotes

[At school] I was a modest, good-humoured boy. It is Oxford that has made me insufferable.

-Beerbohm, Sir (Henry) Max(imilian)

'Father! father! where are you going? O do not walk so fast. Speak, father, speak to your little boy, Or else I shall be lost.'

-Blake,William

He kissed the hand and by the hand led And to his mother brought, Who in sorrow pale, through the lonely dale, Her little boy weeping sought.

-Blake,William

boy quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"boy." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/boy>

APA Style

boy. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/boy

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