plural girls
1
a(1)
: a female child from birth to adulthood
a seven-year-old girl
(2)
: a person whose gender identity is female
… narrator Taylor Meskimen draws listeners into the emotional life of Zenobia July, a tech-savvy trans girl who's facing a new year at a new middle school.—
Rebecca Honeycutt
Rebecca Honeycutt
b
: daughter
Papa's answer was quiet. "I thought I taught you to read, my girl."—Markus Zusak
Markus Zusak
c
: a young woman
d
sometimes offensive
: a single or married woman of any age
2
: a female romantic partner : girlfriend
3
US, informal
a
: a female friend
I love going to a spa and dinner with my girls.—Karen Clifton
Karen Clifton
b
—used as a friendly way of addressing a woman or girl
Hey girl, I like your taste in Christmas gifts.—Miranda Crace
Miranda CraceGirl, you need to give yourself some credit.—John Van Meter
John Van Meter4
: a woman or girl native to a given place
a local girl
She was a city girl at heart.
5
: a female domesticated animal and especially a pet
She … is still mastering the art of being a good girl, as any 3-month-old puppy is.—Rotorua (New Zealand) Weekender
Rotorua (New Zealand) WeekenderKeeping low-key when leaving and returning is essential. Just a "Bye!" and "Be a good girl!" when you leave is plenty. Your dog will be busy with her goodies dispenser, anyway, and probably won't notice when you leave.—Ed Bailey
Ed BaileyEve is a 10-year-old female kitty who is an independent pretty girl …—Jackson (Michigan) Citizen Patriot: Web Edition Articles
Jackson (Michigan) Citizen Patriot: Web Edition Articles6
dated, offensive
: a female servant or enslaved woman
also
: a female employee
Examples of girl in a Sentence
Is this your little girl?
a group of teenage girls
His parents hope he'll soon find a nice girl, settle down, and get married.
Wait till the girls back home hear about this!
Our boss thinks of herself as just one of the girls.
She went out dancing with the girls.
They just hired a new girl to do the filing.
Recent Examples on the Web
This shift reflects the growing understanding that autism looks different in girls than in boys, which in turn allows clinicians to accurately identify it in girls in larger numbers.
—Joshua Anbar, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025
One girl has since been released, while the other remains hospitalized.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2025
In a prologue—Trier is unfashionably fond of them—a young girl who lives there, Nora, describes the place with a tender, anthropomorphizing curiosity.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
When a teenage girl's adoption became official, her new mom had a surprise in store.
—Seth Carnell, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
The book, illustrated by Petra Brown and geared toward kids ages 3 to 7, follows a young girl named Kat who struggles to continue horseback riding after falling off a horse.
—Anna Halkidis, Parents, 3 Nov. 2025
All these girls doing comedy have got pretty legs and short skirts.
—Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 3 Nov. 2025
Growing up, Laura often accompanied her mother to work and even scored one of her first film appearances as a girl eating an ice cream cone in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
And selfishly, getting to be the badass final girl, covered in blood and kicking ass, is a dream role.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 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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Joshua Anbar, CNN Money, 3 Nov. 2025
One girl has since been released, while the other remains hospitalized.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2025
In a prologue—Trier is unfashionably fond of them—a young girl who lives there, Nora, describes the place with a tender, anthropomorphizing curiosity.
—Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
When a teenage girl's adoption became official, her new mom had a surprise in store.
—Seth Carnell, USA Today, 3 Nov. 2025
The book, illustrated by Petra Brown and geared toward kids ages 3 to 7, follows a young girl named Kat who struggles to continue horseback riding after falling off a horse.
—Anna Halkidis, Parents, 3 Nov. 2025
All these girls doing comedy have got pretty legs and short skirts.
—Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 3 Nov. 2025
Growing up, Laura often accompanied her mother to work and even scored one of her first film appearances as a girl eating an ice cream cone in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 3 Nov. 2025
And selfishly, getting to be the badass final girl, covered in blood and kicking ass, is a dream role.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Girl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/girl. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
girl
noun1
a
: a female child
b
: a young woman
2
offensive
: a female servant
—used especially in the past
3
Etymology
Middle English gurle, girle "a young person of either sex"
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