miss
verb (used with object)
to fail to hit or strike.
miss
1 American
[mis]
/ mɪs /
verb (used with object)
-
misses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
missed,
past participle, past
-
missing
present participle
-
to fail to hit or strike.
to miss a target.
-
to fail to encounter, meet, catch, etc..
to miss a train.
-
to fail to take advantage of.
to miss a chance.
-
to fail to be present at or for.
to miss a day of school.
-
to notice the absence or loss of.
When did you first miss your wallet?
-
to regret the absence or loss of.
I miss you all dreadfully.
-
to escape or avoid.
He just missed being caught.
-
to fail to perceive or understand.
to miss the point of a remark.
verb (used without object)
-
misses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
missed,
past participle, past
-
missing
present participle
-
to fail to hit something.
-
to fail of effect or success; be unsuccessful.
noun
-
a failure to hit something.
-
a failure of any kind.
-
an omission.
-
a misfire.
verb phrase
-
miss out on to fail to take advantage of, experience, etc..
You missed out on a great opportunity.
-
miss out to omit; leave out.
idioms
miss
2
American
[mis]
/ mɪs /
noun
-
misses
plural
-
(initial capital letter) a title of respect for an unmarried woman, conventionally prefixed to her name or to the name of that which she represents.
Miss Mary Jones; Miss Sweden.
-
(used by itself, as a term of address, especially to a young woman).
Miss, please bring me some ketchup.
-
(initial capital letter) a title prefixed to a mock surname used to represent a particular attribute of the person, especially one excessively prominent.
Miss Innocent; Miss Congeniality.
-
a young unmarried woman; girl.
a radiant miss of 18 or so.
-
misses,
-
a range of sizes, chiefly from 6 to 20, for garments that fit women of average height and build.
-
the department or section of a store where these garments are sold.
-
a garment in this size range.
-
miss.
3
American
abbreviation
-
mission.
-
missionary.
Miss.
4
American
abbreviation
miss
1
British
/ mɪs /
verb
-
to fail to reach, hit, meet, find, or attain (some specified or implied aim, goal, target, etc)
-
(tr) to fail to attend or be present for
to miss a train
to miss an appointment
-
(tr) to fail to see, hear, understand, or perceive
to miss a point
-
(tr) to lose, overlook, or fail to take advantage of
to miss an opportunity
-
(tr) to leave out; omit
to miss an entry in a list
-
(tr) to discover or regret the loss or absence of
he missed his watch
she missed him
-
(tr) to escape or avoid (something, esp a danger), usually narrowly
he missed death by inches
-
to lose an opportunity
noun
-
a failure to reach, hit, meet, find, etc
-
informal to avoid (something)
give the lecture a miss
give the pudding a miss
Miss.
2
British
abbreviation
Miss
3
British
/ mɪs /
noun
miss
4
British
/ mɪs /
noun
miss
More Idioms
Usage
What is a basic definition of miss? Miss means to fail to hit something, to fail to meet something, or to feel sadness over the absence or loss of something. The word miss has several other senses as a verb and a noun. To miss something is to fail to hit or strike something, as with an arrow missing a target. If a runaway vehicle misses a stop sign, then it doesn’t smash into it.
- Real-life examples: If you throw a basketball to your friend and they don’t catch it, the ball misses. When a baseball player misses a baseball with their bat, they try to hit the ball with the bat but fail to. A bowling ball that doesn’t knock down any pins has missed them.
- Used in a sentence: Luckily, the falling tree branch missed me by a few inches and landed on the ground instead of on my head.
- Used in a sentence: All of his attempts to throw the basketball into the hoop were misses.
- Real-life examples: If you are late meeting up with a friend, they might leave and you’ll miss them. If you take too long to get to the bus stop, the bus will leave without you and you’ll miss it.
- Used in a sentence: She missed the morning train and had to wait until the next one came.
- Real-life examples: Parents often miss their children after they move out of the house. Everybody misses loved ones who have died. A person may miss a favorite food that is no longer being made.
- Used in a sentence: The freezing man missed the heat of Florida.
Gender
See Ms.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misssimple
-
missessimple
-
have missedperfect
-
has missedperfect
-
am missingprogressive
-
are missingprogressive
-
is missingprogressive
-
have been missingperfect progressive
-
has been missingperfect progressive
Past
-
missedsimple
-
had missedperfect
-
was missingprogressive
-
were missingprogressive
-
had been missingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of miss1
First recorded before 900; Middle English missen, mis(e), Old English missan; cognate with Old Frisian missa, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Old High German missen, Old Norse missa “to fail to hit or reach”
Origin of miss2
First recorded in 1600–10; short for mistress
Explanation
To miss is to fail to do or sense something, or to be without. If you miss all your free throws, your basketball team probably won't miss you if you skip a game. The verb form of miss stems from the Old English missan “fail to hit what was aimed at,” while the noun form of miss, meaning a term of honor to a young woman is just the abbreviated form of mistress, which used to be a title of respect. You might not miss the days when every unmarried woman had to be called "Miss."
Vocabulary lists containing miss
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"In Response to Executive Order 9066"
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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:
The thing that’s so remarkable about Southern Poverty Law Center: They could give away $50 million, and they wouldn’t even miss it.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
“The real world is very complex, and has a lot of special cases and hard edges, and you can’t approximately miss something,” says Konidaris.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
The decision for Headingley and Old Trafford to miss out on the 2027 Ashes roster was announced in 2023.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Don’t miss: I don’t want to leave my financially irresponsible daughter my house.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
“Sweetie, I know you miss your sister,” Mrs. Contreras said.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
"I guess that's part of getting older. There's lot of things you are going to miss. There's some things, maybe, you are glad you don't have to do any more."
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
“When you visit Rancho Palos Verdes, the devastation caused by land movement is hard to miss. ... I will keep fighting to ensure these communities get the support they need.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
“But if you get hit with a hurricane and an asteroid in the same period, we’ll miss. And that’s OK.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
“It’s a nice, firm spiral, man, and the guy doesn’t miss. Literally, can’t say enough great things.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2025
“No, miss. I’m with the paint crew. I was just taking a picture.”
From "Merci Suárez Changes Gears" by Meg Medina
“I wanted to stamp my legacy there,” Chambliss said of returning to Ole Miss. “It was unfinished business.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
The cases against Proper, 19, remains ongoing, as do the cases against the two other alleged co-conspirators: Daniel K. Eskridge, 32, of Kidder, Miss., and Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, 31, of Omaha.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Preston Arrington began renting land from his father in Sunflower County, Miss., a quarter-century ago to grow cotton and grains — becoming the fourth generation of his family to choose a career in the fields.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026
The team provides housing during the season, and he spends the remainder of the year staying with family in his hometown of Oxford, Miss., or traveling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
“Your friend, little Swiss Miss. Don’t let me find her in here again. Ever.”
From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
Miss enough feedings and a vulnerable chick can perish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss set college football on fire last season.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
When the slumber party started at 8 p.m., the eight attendees gathered in Tail Town’s front lobby, home to resident fluffy cat queen Miss Yvonne and office manager Grizzly Bear, a brown tabby.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
After a controversial exit from Ole Miss, Kiffin has landed at LSU.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
A lot did hinge on Miss Lacey and Miss Adams, I thought.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
This setup misses the point of primary care.
From Slate ● Aug. 22, 2026
If I neglect it for six months, it will not announce that it misses me.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026
Klaasen was superbly caught by a diving Donald on the boundary before Bracewell was pinned lbw, and the crowd came to life at Dawson's swings and misses at his first two balls.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Background and context: The decision last month follows consecutive earnings misses and scraps targets set in December 2024, after a five-year run where sales surged 80%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
If the second player misses, that player gets an H. Then the first player goes again.
From "The Million Dollar Shot" by Dan Gutman
Royal Mail has once again missed its delivery targets for first and second class post, but said it is making progress towards the goals as its turnaround plan continues.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Federal officials set deadlines for the states to reach a consensus, but state negotiators missed those deadlines.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
“I heard you missed me,” Melania joked to the crowd.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
I’d tell them how much I missed them and describe the things we would be doing together if I were allowed to be part of their lives.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
I almost missed it, thinking about Courtney, but I looked up just in time and now I can never forget it.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
The Puerto Rican was made to work for her 50th career win, edging a majority decision but missing the 33rd knockout she needed to break the women's record, remaining on 32.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
“We’re fans too, so we understand missing an event isn’t just a bad user experience, but is deeply disappointing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
His blemish was missing out on the really big score that would have made it impossible for the selectors to leave him out when Bethell returns.
From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026
A dispute between a producer and Netflix over a missing copy of a World War II spy drama starring Nicolas Cage has now reached the Los Angeles Police Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The loudspeaker beeped and a voice came on: a woman was missing; the entire barracks would stand on the Lagerstrasse until she was found.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
