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:
Many visitors miss the magic surrounding them in Disney parks these days.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
She encourages members of her team to become "calculated risk-takers," and keeps a Wayne Gretzky quote in her office: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026
With Diego Maradona, we still miss him but Messi is still with us so we must enjoy him.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
If you miss your monthly payment to Amazon Oxygen, will you choke to death?
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
“When I miss them, I remember everything I can and those memories come back into focus.”
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
“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
"The banter is the big thing that I miss. When I arrived, one guy said 'hey, you look just like Ross King off the TV - no offence'. I miss the banter."
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025
“Yeah, us, like we out there jacking up 100 threes a night. JJ, JJ, you come for the king, you better not miss. ‘
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 3, 2025
And then to Ophie he said, “Good luck in there, young miss. You’ll need it.”
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
The lyrics mention muddy water and Natchez, Miss., and he adds wailing fills on the instrument officially known as a harmonica but which in this context is usually called a “harp.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 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
Jackson, Miss., residents were left without drinking water for weeks in 2022 after flooding overwhelmed the city’s out-of-date water treatment facility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Deep in the heart of the Delta lies Clarksdale, Miss., widely known as the birthplace of the blues.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
“Your friend, little Swiss Miss. Don’t let me find her in here again. Ever.”
From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
When treating Spark’s school days, Mr. Bailey attempts to blend an account of Edinburgh in the 1930s with a history and analysis of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Spark’s most popular book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Let’s just say Miss Mary and I are on much better terms these days.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
Former Miss Venezuela Giselle Reyes meanwhile said in a post on Instagram that her mother had died after the twin quakes caused her building in La Guaira to "completely collapse".
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
I must have over 30 names for Clover—Chepi, Miss Jane, Hosho, to name a few—all of which she responds to.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
Miss Buckner pressed the button marked B. The elevator descended with a loud hum, clicking at each passing floor.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Nadira Goffe interviewed a classicist about the significance of casting Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and argues that the controversy over her appearance misses the point.
From Slate ● Jul. 20, 2026
If an engineer opts for a smaller model, and that model misses something a frontier model wouldn’t have, then “the human time to figure that out is not worth the toil,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Mike, 40, feels "stagnant" in his current job as a corrections officer and misses the sense of "belonging" he had in the military.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
This creates an investment angle that most coverage misses.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
Even if she misses the rest of her shift, she’ll take me—it is her last shift, after all.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
England scored three first-half tries in a hostile atmosphere as wingers Tommy Freeman and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who missed this year's Six Nations through injury, looked dangerous throughout the game.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
‘I’ve no idea how they got her number’: My student-loan servicer called a friend after I missed a payment.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Ohtani, who has missed his last two starts and received an Orthovisc injection to manage lingering discomfort in his left knee, has continued to throw on flat ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Once it missed the dishwasher altogether, sending a plate clattering to the floor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
“I probably could have missed you, but”—he paused and shrugged—“where’s the fun in that?”
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The victim's mother had reported her missing in 2024 when she was just 13 years old.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Malek said investors focused on buying the dip are missing the forest for the trees, looking past inflationary forces that should be driving valuations down.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
The cut piece of fabric — a custom garment designed by Victor Barragá — becomes proof of not missing out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The only thing missing is a little crunch.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
It was too big, and a piece of it was missing.
From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios
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.
