bitch

American  

[bich] / bɪtʃ /

noun

• bitches
  plural

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.

3. Slang.

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

   2. Older Use. a lewd woman.

   3. Disparaging and Offensive. any woman.

4. Informal. a person, especially a woman (often used as a term of address).

   Hey bitches, let's go party!

5. Slang.

   1. a complaint.

   2. anything difficult or unpleasant.

      That test was a real bitch.

   3. anything memorable, especially something exceptionally good.

      You threw one bitch of a party last night.

6. 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.

7. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.

   1. 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

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

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verb (used without object)

• bitches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bitched,
  past participle,  past
• bitching
  present participle

1. Slang. to complain; gripe.

   They bitched about the service, then about the bill.

verb (used with object)

• bitches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• bitched,
  past participle,  past
• bitching
  present participle

1. Slang. to spoil; bungle (sometimes followed byup ).

   He bitched the interview completely.

   You really bitched up this paint job.

idioms

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!

bitch British  

/ bɪtʃ /

noun

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

2. offensive a malicious, spiteful, or coarse woman

3. slang a complaint

4. slang a difficult situation or problem

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

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verb

1. (intr) to complain; grumble

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

3. to botch; bungle

Pop Culture

— The BITCH Manifesto: Classic feminist article (1970) written by Jo Freeman under the pen name Joreen. It reclaimed the word “bitch” as a term of empowerment rather than one of abuse. — Bitch: A feminist magazine commenting on popular culture and media, founded in 1996. —Bitch: The stage name of a politically outspoken female rock vocalist/violinist and actress. — Skinny Bitch: A diet book (2005) written by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin. — No One's the Bitch: A book (2009), website, and forum that supports mother and stepmother relationships. Started by Jennifer Newcomb Marine and Carol Marine. —Stitch 'n Bitch: A network of groups of people who knit and crochet.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• superbitch
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bitches
  plural

Participles

• bitching
  present
• bitched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bitch
  simple
• bitches
  simple
• have bitched
  perfect
• has bitched
  perfect
• am bitching
  progressive
• are bitching
  progressive
• is bitching
  progressive
• have been bitching
  perfect progressive
• has been bitching
  perfect progressive

Past

• bitched
  simple
• had bitched
  perfect
• was bitching
  progressive
• were bitching
  progressive
• had been bitching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bitch
  simple
• will have bitched
  perfect
• will be bitching
  progressive
• will have been bitching
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of bitch

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

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Explanation

Bitch is a commonly used slang word that is nonetheless vulgar when you throw it at a woman or a man. The word originally meant, and still means, a female dog. This word for a female pooch has evolved to a more common meaning: a woman you don't like. In those cases, a bitch is kind of a female jerk, although feminists would argue that the term often gets unfairly thrown at any strong willed, assertive woman. Many males call each other bitch, too, implying that the other guy is a weakling. Another common use is bitching or to bitch and moan, meaning to complain about something.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bitch bitches bitched bitching

Caitlyn was the youngest competitor at the event at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre and finished in fifth place in the veteran bitch class with Zeeva.

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026

I remember after “The Devil Wears Prada,” I got offered every acerbic British bitch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025

Horror has a shameful past when it comes to queer people so, yeah, I’m going to celebrate when a “fierce bitch android lady,” as Bailey called M3gan, becomes part of a little girl’s chosen family.

From New York Times ● Jan. 19, 2023

The problem has gotten worse as city folk move in and proceed to do nothing but bitch about country life.

From Slate ● May 14, 2021

Appropriate: “The bitch gave birth to a litter of adorable puppies.”

From "Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

Learning that Earle “is a lexapro girly too just proves the baddest bitches have crippling anxiety,” one posted in January.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2025

I mean, I knew in this world that female dogs are called bitches, and it’s kind of normal.

From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2024

Evidence showed between March 2020 and March 2022 a total of 27 litters of puppies were born and up to 28 breeding bitches were kept on the premises.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2023

A whole lot more characters are briefly introduced, given one defining characteristic, like “wears Birkenstocks,” “is gay,” “has a dog” or “constantly bitches about his wife” and then just as quickly dispensed with.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2022

Our coach has to go to his wife’s Lamaze class, which he bitches about to us in detail, but it forces him to end practice early.

From "Every Day" by David Levithan

As Arya reminded Jon when he bitched about Sansa: “I’m defending our family, and so is she.”

From The Guardian ● Apr. 14, 2019

“You have to remember that everyone since the dawn of time has bitched about New York and what it’s become, but nobody owns New York,” Spitz says.

From Time ● Jul. 17, 2014

I once sat through a reading of The Tempest with a playwright who bitched all the way through, saying that Shakespeare isn't any good because his dramatic arc is so bad.

From Slate ● Apr. 10, 2012

"Victor Hugo was a madman who thought he was Victor Hugo," bitched Jean Cocteau some decades later.

From Time Magazine Archive

Not like stubby school crayons you had to press down on till somebody bitched about your breaking them.

From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson

Alarmed that the rail line’s construction could partially collapse the cave, “I started bitching and fighting,” Medellín Legorreta says.

From Science Magazine ● Oct. 11, 2023

“I love the mechanics of it. I love the process. I love going to the set. I even love some of the bitching and whining that goes on, too.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2020

As a middle-aged queer myself, I remember many of my New York and San Francisco friends bitching that all the butch lesbians were “turning into men.”

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2019

But the other thing is that I don’t want to come across as bitching or complaining, and anything I say could be interpreted as that.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 4, 2019

I missed Katz, missed his puffing and bitching and unflappable fearlessness, hated the thought that I could sit waiting on a rock till the end of time and he would never come.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

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