lesbian

adjective les·bi·an \ ˈlez-bē-ən \

|Updated on: 7 Aug 2018

Definition of lesbian

1 often capitalized : of or relating to Lesbos

[from the reputed homosexual band associated with Sappho of Lesbos]

: of or relating to homosexuality between females

Recent Examples of lesbian from the Web

The question of how far safeguards should stretch for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Indians pumped a bit of tension into the courtroom.

— New York Times, "India’s Supreme Court Considers Decriminalizing Gay Sex," 10 July 2018
Posters urging citizens to report residents suspected of living in the U.S. illegally to the federal government were posted last weekend in downtown Tacoma, including on the door of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender resource center.

— craig sailor, The Seattle Times, "White-supremacist posters in Tacoma urge reporting of undocumented residents," 4 July 2018
Republicans estimated 38 percent of Democrats were gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

— alex kingsbury, BostonGlobe.com, "Big Data: Not-so-wealthy Republicans," 29 June 2018
Several countries have constitutions that explicitly prohibit the discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals: South Africa, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nepal, Kosovo, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, and Fiji.

— renae reints, Fortune, "Being Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual Is a Crime in These Places," 26 June 2018
Among the personal struggles, all lessons lead to one mission that exploits lesbian pornography as propaganda for the matriarchal revolution.

— samantha incorvaia, azcentral, "Campy dystopia in 'The Misandrists' doesn't spare graphic details," 21 June 2018
The dinner was part of a wider push in Howard County to bring more visibility and engagement to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

— kate magill, Howard County Times, "Howard's LGBTQ groups planning first Pride parade, community outreach," 20 June 2018
And Gallup studies suggest that at least some of the lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender population is leaving the state.

— steve wieberg, kansascity, "‘There’s No Place Like Home’ finds signs of quiet progress for Kansas’ LGBT citizens," 20 June 2018
The importance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community to the Fort Lauderdale area’s tourism economy will be a major theme of the June 14 dedication of the new LGBT+ Visitor Center in Wilton Manors.

— ron hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel.com, "New LGBT+ visitor center to be dedicated in Wilton Manors," 13 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lesbian.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.