girl
a female child, from birth to full growth.
a young, immature woman, especially formerly, an unmarried one.
a daughter: My wife and I have two girls.
Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a grown woman, especially when referred to familiarly: She's having the girls over for bridge next week.
a girlfriend; sweetheart.
Older Use: Usually Offensive. a female servant, as a maid.
Older Use: Usually Offensive. a female employee, especially an office assistant.
a female who is from or native to a given place: She's a Missouri girl.
girls, (used with a singular or plural verb)
a range of sizes from 7 to 14, for garments made for girls.
a garment in this size range.
the department or section of a store where these garments are sold.
girls, Slang. one's breasts (usually preceded by the, my, etc., and primarily used self-referentially by women).
Origin of girl
1usage note For girl
Referring to one's female office assistant or housekeeper as the girl or my girl, once in common use, is now considered unacceptable. Working girl, meaning “a woman who works,” girl/gal Friday, meaning “a female office assistant,” and other occupational terms such as career girl and college girl, are also dated and often perceived as insulting. Working girl as a slang term meaning “a prostitute” is sometimes used by female prostitutes as a euphemistic self-reference. See also lady, woman.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use girl in a sentence
So, Islamized teaching sends girls back home for marriage and housework, and remains exclusively for boys.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President | Pierre Assouline | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe first two videos are teasers featuring two favorite cartoon characters for young girls, Dora the Explorer and Tinkerbell.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking | M.L. Nestel | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTSo many girls are idolizing these models and wanting to look like them.
How Skinny Is Too Skinny? Israel Bans ‘Underweight’ Models | Carrie Arnold | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat I had “on the girls” were some remarkably brave first-person accounts.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 | Vicky Ward | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTGirls in Peacetime Want to Dance is a different sound for you.
She herself had worn them in her youth, and they were the proper bonnets for "growing girls."
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsShe apparently prefers to paint single figures of women and young girls, but her works include a variety of subjects.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementAnd as for the two girls, they were utterly speechless under the pressure of feeling.
The Boarded-Up House | Augusta Huiell SeamanHe had five girls by his first wife; there is no reason why this splendid cow I have picked out should not produce a dozen boys.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonOne of the little girls in pigtails was holding him, while Miss Anne administered the feeding-bottle.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. Locke
British Dictionary definitions for girl
/ (ɡɜːl) /
a female child from birth to young womanhood
a young unmarried woman; lass; maid
informal a sweetheart or girlfriend
informal a woman of any age
an informal word for daughter
a female employee, esp a female servant
Southern African derogatory a Black female servant of any age
the girls (usually plural) informal a group of women, esp acquaintances
Origin of girl
1usage For girl
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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