babe
[ beyb ]
/ beɪb /
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.
- Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one: Her roommate is a real babe!
- an attractive young man.
- (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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Nearby words
Idioms
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
Definition for babe (2 of 3)
Ruth
2[ 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. 2019
Examples 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
- 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
- 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
Culture 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.