Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A female child.
  • noun A daughter.
  • noun Often Offensive A woman.
  • noun A woman socializing with a group of women.
  • noun Used as a familiar form of address to express support of or camaraderie with a woman.
  • noun Informal A female sweetheart.
  • noun Offensive A female servant or employee.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A young person of either sex; a child.
  • noun A female child; any young person of the female sex; a young unmarried woman.
  • noun In the language of the chase, a roebuck of two years old.
  • noun A maid-servant.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A young person of either sex; a child.
  • noun A female child, from birth to the age of puberty; a young maiden.
  • noun United States A female servant; a maidservant.
  • noun (Zoöl.), Prov. Eng. A roebuck two years old.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A young female human; (in contrast to boy), a female child or young adult.
  • noun Any woman, regardless of her age. See usage notes.
  • noun A female servant; a maid. See usage notes.
  • noun figuratively, pejorative A boy with girl-like qualities, especially squeamishness.
  • noun colloquial A term of endearment. See usage notes.
  • noun A girlfriend.
  • noun A daughter.
  • noun UK, dialect, obsolete A roebuck two years old.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a young woman
  • noun a female human offspring
  • noun a friendly informal reference to a grown woman
  • noun a youthful female person
  • noun a girl or young woman with whom a man is romantically involved

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English girle, child, girl, of unknown origin.]

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Examples

  • "the Indiana girl," from the name of her pa's hotel, though it must be confessed that the sweet name of _girl_ seems sadly incongruous when applied to such a gigantic piece of humanity.

    The Shirley Letters from California Mines in 1851-52 Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clappe

  • She's not only the prettiest girl I've seen for many a year, but she's _the girl_. "

    The Shield of Silence George [Illustrator] Loughridge

  • I want to say I'm the new "girl," but unless you are in the South where the term girl is used as commonly as "you" in some places, I think I'm past qualifying...

    Archive 2009-02-01 Casey 2009

  • I want to say I'm the new "girl," but unless you are in the South where the term girl is used as commonly as "you" in some places, I think I'm past qualifying...

    New wicked one... Lori Devoti 2009

  • "I think some people don't understand the word 'girl crush,'" she said.

    Writers With Crushes Making Waves Mike Vilensky 2011

  • The main girl is a cutter who starts hanging out with a Goth girl and going to Goth clubs.

    slayground: Booklist: Monster Mash Little Willow 2006

  • As a Brit in France who has just aquired a French Lady Friend, we are too old for the term girl friend!

    what not to eat 2005

  • Remember, Every virgin girl is saving herself for YOU.

    And for the guys… 2002

  • I did not mean to offend you by using the term girl; I was going to assure you that we had no need of the decanter.

    Roughing It in the Bush Susanna Moodie 1844

  • The word boy when used for an African American man is a fighting word, as is the word girl when applied to women.

    Forbes.com: News Victoria Pynchon 2011

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