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:
She recommended that he take a long way to reenter the park, enabling him to see the valley at a time he’d miss the crowds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
During this World Cup, the former England captain has been impossible to miss.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
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
I gave in, figuring nobody would miss one watermelon out of so many.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
"It still feels exciting. It still feels like something that I couldn't miss. And, that said, it feels different," says Rob Lilley-Jones, host of the UK-based Euro Trip podcast.
From BBC ● May 9, 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
"Olise is a massive miss. What he's doing now for Bayern Munich and the quality of player that he is," former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey said on Sky Sports.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2024
“I mean, it’s a dragon. They’re hard to miss. So we’ll just wait until it’s not there, and then we’ll leap onto the island.”
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Profit in the recent quarter was dented by a $16 million non-cash asset impairment charge related to the company’s decision to relocate its planned second satellite aluminum recycled slab center to Columbus, Miss. from Arizona.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 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
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
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has supported the project in Southaven, Miss., saying in January External link that xAI is spending upward of $20 billion and bringing hundreds of jobs to the area.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
“Your friend, little Swiss Miss. Don’t let me find her in here again. Ever.”
From "When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead
There has been a "deeply distressing impact on Miss Widdecombe's family", he added.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Let’s just say Miss Mary and I are on much better terms these days.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
On songs like “Cigarette Curls”—“Time moves faster than the pain” is one of several of its memorable lines—and “I’ll Miss You,” her vocal fits with the loose, intuitive feel of her arrangements.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 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
“Well, this is the first night Miss Myrt’s in her grave. Now Increase Whittlesey’s not the only teacher in the graveyard, pushing up daisies.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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
More misses on her forehand gifted Muchova a double-break lead and the Czech kept her level consistently high to serve out the first set with an ace.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
This creates an investment angle that most coverage misses.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026
She misses eating what she wants, when she wants.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
Related: ‘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
I had just missed the cut at the Aussie PGA badly.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
That she was a vocalist with great lung power had never been missed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
I hadn’t figured out he wouldn’t have missed the Case Special himself.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
China’s economy just posted its slowest quarterly growth in three years—4.3%, missing forecasts, with fixed-asset investment down and consumption still limp.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
There, she received two additional doses of antivenom over two days, according to the GoFundMe, which will help cover the costs of Addy’s treatment and the family’s lost income from Manuel missing work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
The only thing missing is a little crunch.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
In 2025, more than 6,500 Rohingya attempted to leave the camps by sea, and one in seven of them were reported dead or missing, according to the UN.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
Maggie felt a relief she hadn’t known she was missing.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
