babe
Americannoun
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babes
plural
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a baby or child.
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an innocent or inexperienced person.
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Southern U.S. Usually Babe (used, often before the surname, as a familiar name for a boy or man, especially the youngest of a family.)
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Slang.
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Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one.
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an attractive young man.
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Sometimes Babe an affectionate or familiar term of address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).
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idioms
noun
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a baby
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informal a naive, gullible, or unsuspecting person (often in the phrase a babe in arms )
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informal a young woman or man perceived as being sexually attractive
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of babe
First recorded in 1150–1200; 1915–20 babe for def. 4; Middle English; early Middle English baban, probably nursery word in origin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And I’m like, babe, I would if I could.”
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
“Yep they aren’t compatible babe girl only wants a man with $$$,” one reply reads.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
Natasha said, “Sorry, babe, Wednesday’s my birthday, and I wanna go to Good Times at Davey Wayne’s.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025
The lorry driver's final conversation with her ended with her saying: "OK babe, drive safe, I love you."
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2025
“Out but to relieve herself, mistress. She will be back soon, and then your babe will be born.”
From "The Midwife's Apprentice" by Karen Cushman
"Alright, babes," he said trying to comfort her.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025
The theater is humming with happy cast and crew, some with their little kids who had been babes in arms while the movie was shot — and ended up as extras.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
But at the center of it all are not a pair of impossibly shiny babes, but rather, two rumpled lesbians sporting an astounding array of baggy rugby shirts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2023
Whatever you do, just keep the socks off in bed, babes — I don't care what the science says.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2023
As for their children, the younger ones had been mewling babes for most of his years at Winterfell.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
