Pronunciations (7)
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/bɔɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
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/boj/
Pronunciation notes
- British
- Southern
- Standard
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/boɪ/
Pronunciation notes
- Australia
- New-Zealand
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/bɔːə/
Pronunciation notes
- Southern-US
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/bɒj/
Pronunciation notes
- South-Asia
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/bɑːj/
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bɔɪ
Noun
A male child.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
Kieran plays football with other boys in his school.
The ſtretes of the cite alſo ſhalbe full of yonge boyes and damſelles, playnge vpon the ſtretes.
More examples (5)
I find I was mistaken in the sex, it is a boy.
Ah! happy years! once more who would not be a boy?
"He is not quite a baby, Alfred," said Ellen, "though he is only a big stupid boy. We have made him miserable enough. Let us leave him alone."
Girls were offered baby dolls, princesses and sexy fashion figures; the boys section had superheroes, building blocks, science kits and dinosaurs.
The boy who made headlines when he was photographed hugging an officer during a 2014 protest against police brutality is missing after his family’s SUV plunged 100 feet off a coastal highway in California, officials said Wednesday.
A young man.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Informal
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Kate is dating a boy named Jim.
A son of any age.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- diminutive
- especially
- Uncountable
- with a possessive
- Examples
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Low as that tide has ebbed with me, / It still reflects to memory’s eye / The hour, my brave, my only boy, / Fell by the side of great Dundee.
More examples (2)
If I'd kept a woman, he realized, instead of sending 'em back to their fathers' lodges - the Shoshone girl, them two Hunkpapas, the Crow I called Sally, even that Ree that come near talking me to death - if I'd kept one of 'em for more than just a winter, I'd have boys of my own by now to bring in meat.
I tried. I tried. But he wouldn't listen. My boy was stubborn. My boy was strong. And he was gonna get himself killed. Now I told him, I told him I did it too. That I was like Hoffman, getting by, and that's what you heard that night: me talking him down, him kicking and screaming until the fight went out of him. He put me up on a pedestal. And I had to show him that I was down in the gutter with the rest of them. Broke my boy. I broke my boy.
A male human younger than the speaker.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- diminutive
- endearing
- Uncountable
A male human of any age, as opposed to a "girl" (female human of any age).
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Derogatory
- Informal
- mildly
- sometimes
- Uncountable
- Examples
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boys' club
More examples (1)
"My dear girl, what has he done?" said Mrs. Mallowe, sweetly. It is noticeable that ladies of a certain age call each other "dear girl," just as commissioners of twenty-eight years' standing address their equals in the Civil List as "my boy."
"I know. Libert Valance and a couple of his boys."
More examples (1)
It opened up a whole range [of feelings]. Some of them we were prepared for ― like for some women to feel some of the images were anti-feminist […] One woman wrote, "I can see the boys have taught you well." "Macho B.S.," someone else wrote.
A male of low station, (especially as pejorative) a worthless male, a wretch; a mean and dishonest male, a knave.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Do’ſt thou call mee foole boy?
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee, particularly
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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He allowed his ‘boy’ - an overfed young negro from the coast - to treat the white men, under his very eyes, with provoking insolence.
More examples (1)
“Why does he go out and pinch all his dogs in person? He’s an administrator, isn’t he? Wouldn’t he hire a boy or something?” “We call them ‘staff,’” Roger replies, […]
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee A younger such worker.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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I resolved to continue in the Cave, with my two Servants, my Maid, and a Boy, whom I had brought from France.
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee A non-white male servant regardless of age, particularly as a form of address.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Historical
- Offensive
- Uncountable
- Examples
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My Boy Stephen Grauener.
They picked out two of the strongest of the Boys (as they call the Men) about the place.
More examples (5)
The blacks who work on a station or farm are always, like the blacks in the Southern States, called boys.
From a domestic point of view the advent of the Chinese was a decided blessing, for, instead of the European ladies of the settlement having to do all their own work, they were able to employ a proper staff of Chinese boys.
[In Shanghai,] The register clerk assigns you to a room, and instead of ‘Front!’ he shouts ‘Boy!’
He thrust his head into the aisle. "Boy!" A Chinese in a white coat responded listlessly. "What will you have? Beer?"
Aborigine Wally... described himself as ‘number one boy’ at the station.
A male servant, slave, assistant, or employee A male camp follower.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
If any water be rough and boysterous, or the chanell verye broade, it manye times drowneth the carriages and the boyes and nowe and then slouthfull and lyther souldiours.
Godes plud kil the boyes and the lugyge, Tis the arrants peece of knauery[…]
Any non-white male, regardless of age.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- Offensive
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
A Hottentot... expects to be called by his name if addressed by any one who knows it; and by those to whom it is not known he expects to be called Hottentot... or boy.
Every darky, however old, is a boy.
[In Alabama,] Guards still use the term ‘boy’ to refer to Black prisoners.
More examples (1)
BN: [repeating a catchphrase] I like the boy. MA: [to hostile audience] Hold it, hold it, hold it. Easy. Did you say ‘Roy’ or ‘boy’? BN: ‘I like the boy’. There's nothing wrong with saying that... Hang on, hang on, hang on... I'll change religion, I'll do anything for ya, I don't bloody care... What's wrong with saying that? ‘I like the boy’? MA: Boy... BN: I mean, I like the man. I'm sorry, Muhammad.
A male friend.
Usage- broadly
- Countable
- especially
- Informal
- Uncountable
- with a possessive
- Examples
-
hanging with my boys
The next thing I remember, I am walking down the street / I'm feeling all right, I'm with my boys, I'm with my troops, yeah.
A male submissive.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
A male non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a male pet, especially a dog.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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C'mere, boy! Good boy! Who's a good boy?
Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?
A former low rank of various armed services; a holder of this rank.
Usage- Countable
- Historical
- Uncountable
- Examples
-
Wounded... 1 Boy, 1st class, severely.
He joined the Navy as a boy second class in 1898.
Heroin.
Usage- US usage
- Slang
- Uncountable
- Examples
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[…] drove by a corner, saw what I thought—no, what I knew—were dealers and asked if they knew where I could get some boy.
A male (tree, gene, etc).
Usage- childish
- Countable
- often
- Uncountable
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Are there “boy” trees and “girl” trees? Yes. A number of species, among them the yew, holly and date-bearing palm, have their male and female flowers on different trees. The male holly, for instance, must be planted fairly close to the female ...
Of the 100 percent total, 25 will have two girl genes, 50 will have one boy and one girl gene, and 25 will have two boy genes.
Any tangible object close to one's person; often used in emphatic forms such as bad boy.
Usage- Colloquial
- Countable
- endearing
- Uncountable
- Examples
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This boy can really kick!
Interjection
Exclamation of surprise, pleasure or longing.
- Related words
- Examples
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Boy, that was close!
Boy, that tastes good!
More examples (3)
Boy, I wish I could go to Canada!
Time is running out, so I renounce a spin on a Class 387 for a fast run to Paddington on another Class 800 - a shame as the weather was perfect for pictures. Even so, it's enjoyable - boy, can those trains shift under the wires.
Taylor Swift has entered her engagement era. And, as befitting an artist whose image has always evolved to reflect the shifts in her music — not to mention one who has never been afraid to share her most Hallmark-seeped romantic fantasies — boy, does she have a new look to go with her new status.
Verb
To act as a boy (in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage).
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness.
Noun
a youthful male person
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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the baby was a boy
she made the boy brush his teeth every night
More examples (1)
most soldiers are only boys in uniform
a friendly informal reference to a grown man
- Broader terms
- Examples
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he likes to play golf with the boys
a male human offspring
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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their son became a famous judge
his boy is taller than he is
(ethnic slur) offensive and disparaging term for Black man
- Broader terms
- Examples
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get out of my way, boy