lad
noun
a boy or youth.
Jump To:
lad
1 American
[lad]
/ læd /
noun
-
lads
plural
-
a boy or youth.
-
Informal. a familiar or affectionate term of address for a man; chap.
-
British Horseracing Informal. a stable boy.
LAD
2
American
abbreviation
Psycholinguistics.
lad
British
/ læd /
noun
-
a boy or young man
-
informal a familiar form of address for any male
-
a lively or dashing man or youth (esp in the phrase a bit of a lad )
-
a young man whose behaviour is characteristic of male adolescents, esp in being rowdy, macho, or immature
-
a boy or man who looks after horses
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of lad
1250–1300; Middle English ladde < ?; compare late Old English Ladda (nickname)
Explanation
Lad is another word for a boy or a young man. A man who's been hit with a water balloon might turn around to a group of giggling boys and ask, "All right, which of you lads did that?" You can use the casual lad instead of guy, fellow, or chap. This word is much more common in Britain than in the U.S., although everyone understands what it means. Someone in London might talk about going out on the town with "the lads," while in Boston people are more likely to say they're meeting "the guys." Lad, originally spelled ladde, first meant "foot soldier," or "young servant."
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:
Starting five shots back on Sunday, local lad Fleetwood had to swing well, play smartly and stay calm in the eye of the storm.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
While the press focuses on celebrity award winners, Lawrence says he was glad to showcase people like Michael Akers a "young lad with a disability... who set up a charity advocating for other children".
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
“It’s a ballad for the real lad, an acceptable point where men can show a bit of emotion.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
Harrington described him as "really pleasant" and a "bright lad", who was modest.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
So they turned aside and spent some hours at the fair, tethering the horses near the gate, giving a penny to a lad for watching them.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
If the LAD is blocked, the heart can stop suddenly, hence the moniker “widowmaker.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
By being in the environment, hearing the language and most important, understanding the language, somehow or other something kicks in in the brain called the LAD — the language acquisition device.
From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2023
Dr. McCormack later told me a heart attack that occurs when the LAD is completely or almost completely blocked is commonly known as the widowmaker.
From Fox News ● Aug. 23, 2021
He paid tribute to hospital staff who diagnosed a blocked LAD artery - the main artery running down the front of the heart.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2018
Sunnybank Lad won a million friends through my book, "LAD: A DOG"; and through the Lad-anecdotes in "Buff: A Collie."
From Further Adventures of Lad by Albert Payson Terhune
The lads get to spend loads of time together.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
"I just kept reminding the lads - even if you are behind things can change."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
He recalled how at age nine, his musician son Max recruited a bunch of "Aberystwyth lads" to start a rock band with him.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
"I missed the whole season, and we got relegated. A lot of the young lads still got good moves; Harry Maguire went to Leicester, Andy Robertson went to Liverpool, Sam Clucas to Swansea."
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
This is perhaps the most orienting part of the geek experience for many lads like Jesse: They see the Net as a separate world, their world.
From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz
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.
