babe

American  

[beyb] / beɪb /

noun

1. a baby or child.

   Synonyms:

   nursling, tot, infant, toddler

2. an innocent or inexperienced person.

3. 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.)

4. Slang.

   1. Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one.

   2. an attractive young man.

   3. 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

1. babe in the woods, an innocent, unsuspecting person, especially one likely to be victimized by others: Also babe in the wood.

   Some highly informed people are mere babes in the woods where the stock market is concerned.

babe British  

/ beɪb /

noun

1. a baby

2. informal a naive, gullible, or unsuspecting person (often in the phrase a babe in arms )

3. informal a young woman or man perceived as being sexually attractive

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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

BABE, the big blue ox, constituted Paul Bunyan's assets and liabilities.

From The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan As Told in the Camps of the White Pine Lumbermen for Generations During Which Time the Loggers Have Pioneered the Way Through the North Woods from Maine to California; Collected from Various Sources and Embellished for Publication by Laughead, W. B.

"BABE, not baby," corrected Rebecca from the circular.

From Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith

Related Words

• bathing beauty
• beauty queen
• cover girl
• cutie
• cutie-pie
• doll
• dollface
• fox
• glamor girl
• good-looking woman
• pin-up
• tomato