plural boys
often attributive
1
a(1)
: a male child from birth to adulthood
a ten-year-old boy
(2)
: a child whose gender identity is male
Author Kyle Lukoff told Newsweek, Call Me Max and other books in the series are about a young trans boy figuring out who he is, making new friends, and sharing about himself with his family and community.—
Samantha Lock
Samantha Lock
b
: son
My older boy just got married.
Even though it made them uncomfortable to have their boy talked about all over town, secretly, Nick's mom and dad were pleased.—Andrew Clements
Andrew Clements
c
: an immature male
separate the men from the boys
a boy genius
2
3
chiefly US slang
: a close male friend
Now, the receiver is getting a second chance, thanks to old friend Tom Brady. "Tom is my boy," [Antonio] Brown said Wednesday during his introductory video press conference in Tampa.—Michael Hurley
Michael Hurley4
: a male domesticated animal and especially a pet
Leo is a 2-year-old pit bull mix. … He loves receiving attention, getting pets and being told he is a good boy.—The Denver Post
The Denver PostJean Greening greets the birds in the aviary with whistles, kissing noises, and the phrase, "Who's a pretty boy?"—Current Science
Current Science5
a
dated, offensive
: a male servant or an enslaved man
b
disparaging + offensive
—used to address a man of color and especially a Black man
Note: The deeply offensive use of the word boy to address an adult man of color has a strong association with sense 5a and is a term expressive of racist condescension.
Examples of boy in a Sentence
It's a boy! She gave birth to a baby boy this morning.
a nine-year-old boy named David
Okay, boys and girls, it's time to play a game.
Is this your little boy?
That's my boy! Good job, Son.
a group of teenage boys
My parents want me to meet a nice boy and get married.
Don't be so hard on him. He's just a boy.
a poor boy from the north
Wait till the boys back home hear about this!
Recent Examples on the Web
The images of Etan’s smiling, cherubic face were widely distributed during the yearslong search for the blond, blue-eyed boy.
—Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 29 Nov. 2025
Ingram is a boy, probably ten or so, who lives on a farm in rural Texas, where his parents force him to sleep in a shed.
—Tyler Foggatt, New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2025
Cumberbatch’s character, known as Dad, is now the single father of two young boys — portrayed by twins Richard and Henry Boxall, 7 years old at the time of the filming of this, their screen debuts — following the death of his beloved wife.
—Mark Meszoros, Boston Herald, 28 Nov. 2025
The second semester at Maxton Hall ended today with more teen drama getting in the way of the on-off romance between scrappy scholarship student Ruby (Harriet Herbig-Matten) and privileged posh boy James (Damian Hardung).
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 28 Nov. 2025
Do not suddenly announce to your mother that this boy is your boyfriend.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 28 Nov. 2025
Of the eight newborns, there were three sets of twin boys and one set of twin girls.
—Michael Guise, CBS News, 28 Nov. 2025
The timing worked out in the sense that Holly is very close to the age our boys were in season one.
—Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 27 Nov. 2025
Scott and her husband welcomed their sweet baby boy in March of this year and shared the exciting news on social media.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 27 Nov. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Ray Sanchez, CNN Money, 29 Nov. 2025
Ingram is a boy, probably ten or so, who lives on a farm in rural Texas, where his parents force him to sleep in a shed.
—Tyler Foggatt, New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2025
Cumberbatch’s character, known as Dad, is now the single father of two young boys — portrayed by twins Richard and Henry Boxall, 7 years old at the time of the filming of this, their screen debuts — following the death of his beloved wife.
—Mark Meszoros, Boston Herald, 28 Nov. 2025
The second semester at Maxton Hall ended today with more teen drama getting in the way of the on-off romance between scrappy scholarship student Ruby (Harriet Herbig-Matten) and privileged posh boy James (Damian Hardung).
—Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 28 Nov. 2025
Do not suddenly announce to your mother that this boy is your boyfriend.
—Jeanne Phillips, Mercury News, 28 Nov. 2025
Of the eight newborns, there were three sets of twin boys and one set of twin girls.
—Michael Guise, CBS News, 28 Nov. 2025
The timing worked out in the sense that Holly is very close to the age our boys were in season one.
—Josh Wigler, HollywoodReporter, 27 Nov. 2025
Scott and her husband welcomed their sweet baby boy in March of this year and shared the exciting news on social media.
—Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 27 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Boy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boy. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
boy
noun1
: a male child from birth to young manhood
2
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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