Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Girl

Girl

(gẽrl)
,
Noun.
[OE.
girle
,
gerle
,
gurle
, a girl (in sense 1): cf. LG.
gör
child.]
1.
A young person of either sex; a child.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
2.
A female child, from birth to the age of puberty; a young maiden.
3.
A female servant; a maidservant.
[U. S.]
4.
(Zool.)
A roebuck two years old.
[Prov. Eng.]

Webster 1828 Edition


Girl

GIRL

,
Noun.
gerl. [Low L. gerula, a young woman employed in tending children and carrying them about, from gero, to carry; a word probably received from the Romans while in England.]
1.
A female child, or young woman. In familiar language, any young unmarried woman.
2.
Among sportsmen, a roebuck of two years old.

Definition 2024


Girl

Girl

See also: girl

English

Proper noun

Girl

  1. (astronomy) a Chinese constellation located near Aquarius, one of the 28 lunar mansions and part of the Black Turtle

German

Etymology

From English girl.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /gœʁl/, [gœɐ̯l]

Noun

Girl n (genitive Girls or Girl, plural Girls)

  1. girl; young woman; usually implying physical attractiveness, often in the context of show or entertainment

Declension

girl

girl

See also: Girl

English

Alternative forms

Noun

girl (plural girls)

  1. A young female human; specifically (in contrast to boy), a female child, teenager, or young adult; by extension, a young female animal
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or [] . And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness.
    • 2013 July 19, Mark Tran, Denied an education by war”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 1:
      One particularly damaging, but often ignored, effect of conflict on education is the proliferation of attacks on schools [] as children, teachers or school buildings become the targets of attacks. Parents fear sending their children to school. Girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence.
    Amanda is a girl of 16.
  2. Any woman, regardless of her age. (see usage notes)
  3. A female servant; a maid. (see usage notes)
  4. (uncommon) A queen (the playing card.)
  5. (colloquial) A term of endearment. (see usage notes)
  6. A girlfriend.
    • Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Girl from Hollywood
      There isn't any guy going to steal my girl!
    • 1996, Elizabeth Wong, Kimchee and Chitlins: A Serious Comedy about Getting Along (page 74)
      I took my girl to the cinema to watch your American movies.
  7. A daughter.
    Your girl turned up on our doorstep.
  8. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) A roebuck two years old.
  9. (US, slang) Cocaine, especially in powder form.
    • 1969, Iceberg Slim, Pimp: The Story of My Life, Cash Money Content (2011), ISBN 9781451617139, page 43:
      She had taught me to snort girl, and almost always when I came to her pad, there would be thin sparkling rows of crystal cocaine on the glass top of the cocktail table.
    • 1977, Odie Hawkins, Chicago Hustle, Holloway House (1987), ISBN 0870673661, page 175:
      Elijah nodded congenially to the early evening regulars in the Afro Lounge, headed straight for the telephone hung midway between the mens and womens, his nose smarting from a couple thick lines of recently snorted girl.
    • 2005, K'wan, Hoodlum, St. Martin's Press (2005), ISBN 0312333080, page 185:
      After about an hour or two of half-ass sex and snorting girl, Honey was zoned out. [] She flexed her still numb fingers, trying to find a warmth that didn't seem to come. Cocaine always made her numb.
    • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:girl.

Usage notes

  • (any woman, regardless of her age): Calling a grown woman a "girl" may be considered either a compliment or an insult, depending on context and sensibilities. In some cases, the term is used as a euphemism for virgin, to distinguish a female who has never engaged in sexual intercourse (a "girl") from one who has done so (and is a woman).

Synonyms

  • (young female human): see also Wikisaurus:girl.
  • (cocaine): see also Wikisaurus:cocaine.

Derived terms

Look at pages starting with girl.

Translations

References

  1. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, s.v. "girl" (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002).

See also

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: wish · gone · times · #334: girl · during · several · either

Anagrams