babe

[ beyb ]
/ beɪb /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR babe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a baby or child.
an innocent or inexperienced person.
(usually initial capital letter) Southern U.S. (used, often before the surname, as a familiar name for a boy or man, especially the youngest of a family.)
Slang.
  1. Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one: Her roommate is a real babe!
  2. an attractive young man.
  3. (sometimes initial capital letter) 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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advocate
to give up possession or occupancy of.
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Idioms for babe

    babe in the woods, an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others: Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.Also babe in the wood.

Origin of babe

1150–1200; 1915–20 for def 4; Middle English; early Middle English baban, probably nursery word in origin

Words nearby babe

babble, babbler, babbling, babbling brook, babcock test, babe, babe in arms, babe in the woods, babe-in-a-cradle, babel, babel, tower of

Definition for babe (2 of 3)

Ruth2
[ rooth ]
/ ruθ /

noun

George HermanBabe,1895–1948, U.S. baseball player.

Definition for babe (3 of 3)

Zaharias
[ zuh-hair-ee-uh s, -har- ]
/ zəˈhɛər i əs, -ˈhær- /

noun

Mildred Did·rik·son [did-rik-suh n] /ˈdɪd rɪk sən/, Babe,1914–56, U.S. track-and-field athlete and golfer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to babe

newborn, bairn, infant, suckling, child

Example sentences from the Web for babe

British Dictionary definitions for babe (1 of 3)

babe
/ (beɪb) /

noun

a baby
informal a naive, gullible, or unsuspecting person (often in the phrase a babe in arms)
informal a young woman or man perceived as being sexually attractive

British Dictionary definitions for babe (2 of 3)

ruth
/ (ruːθ) /

noun archaic

pity; compassion
repentance; remorse
grief or distress

Word Origin for ruth

C12: from rewen to rue 1

British Dictionary definitions for babe (3 of 3)

Ruth
/ (ruːθ) /

noun

Old Testament
  1. a Moabite woman, who left her own people to remain with her mother-in-law Naomi, and became the wife of Boaz; an ancestress of David
  2. the book in which these events are recounted
George Herman, nicknamed Babe . 1895–1948, US professional baseball player from 1914 to 1935
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

Cultural definitions for babe

Ruth

The great-grandmother of King David, known for her kindness and faithfulness. Not an Israelite herself, she married an Israelite who had come to her country with his family. Ruth's husband died, and her mother-in-law, Naomi, set out to return to the country of the Israelites. Ruth insisted on accompanying Naomi, saying, “ Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge.” In the country of the Israelites, Ruth married Boaz, a rich relative of her dead husband; Boaz had been attracted to Ruth by her generosity. Her story is told in the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.