bitch

[ bich ]
See synonyms for bitch on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a female dog: This is the third year in a row that a bitch won first place in the sporting dogs category.

  2. a female canine generally.

  1. Slang.

    • a malicious, unpleasant, selfish person, especially a woman.

    • Older Use. a lewd woman.

    • Disparaging and Offensive. any woman.

  2. Informal. a person, especially a woman (often used as a term of address):Hey bitches, let's go party!

  3. Slang.

    • a complaint.: See also bitch session.

    • anything difficult or unpleasant: That test was a real bitch.

    • anything memorable, especially something exceptionally good: You threw one bitch of a party last night.

  4. Slang: Disparaging. a person who is submissive or subservient to someone, usually in a humiliating way: Tom is so her bitch—he never questions what she decides.

  5. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

    • a man who willingly or unwillingly submits to the will and control of a dominant partner in a sexual relationship, especially with another man, as in prison bitch.

    • a gay man who is penetrated in anal intercourse, or who assumes a submissive role in a sexual relationship.

verb (used without object)
  1. Slang. to complain; gripe: They bitched about the service, then about the bill.

verb (used with object)
  1. Slang. to spoil; bungle (sometimes followed by up): He bitched the interview completely.You really bitched up this paint job.

Idioms about bitch

  1. sit / ride bitch, to sit uncomfortably between two others in the middle of the front or back seat of a car, particularly one with a raised section in the middle resulting in being forced to bring one's knees up in a bent position: When I was young, I was the smallest, so I always had to sit bitch.Please don't make me ride bitch again!

Origin of bitch

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bicche, Old English bicce; cognate with Old Norse bikkja

word story For bitch

At its most literal, a bitch is a female dog. It is common to differentiate animals by sex, as with hens vs. roosters or cows vs. bulls. But words for female animals often develop derogatory meanings, and this happened to bitch around 1400 when it gained currency as a disparaging term for a woman. It first meant “a lewd or sensual woman,” and then evolved to mean “a malicious or unpleasant woman.” The word is first found used this way in the Chester Plays of the 1400s, which have the line “Who callest thou queine, skabde biche?,” translated by one writer into modern English as “Who are you calling a whore, you miserable bitch?” It became so offensive that by the 1800s people started using euphemisms for the literal sense, such as lady dog and she dog.
Now, however, the word has developed a number of informal usages that may be less offensive in some contexts. Used as a verb, it can mean complaining ( bitching and moaning ) or bungling things ( bitching something up ). The word has also been reclaimed by some women as a term of empowerment, and can even be used in a friendly address ( You're doing amazing, bitch! ). But other uses still retain misogynistic or violent overtones ( prison bitch, make him your bitch ). For this reason, care must be taken to consider the context and topic when determining whether the word is appropriate.

Other words from bitch

  • su·per·bitch, noun

Words Nearby bitch

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use bitch in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bitch

bitch

/ (bɪtʃ) /


noun
  1. a female dog or other female canine animal, such as a wolf

  2. offensive, slang a malicious, spiteful, or coarse woman

  1. slang a complaint

  2. slang a difficult situation or problem

  3. slang a person who acts as a subordinate or slave to another person

verbinformal
  1. (intr) to complain; grumble

  2. to behave (towards) in a spiteful or malicious manner

  1. (tr, often foll by up) to botch; bungle

Origin of bitch

1
Old English bicce

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