missed; missing; misses
1
: to fail to hit, reach, or contact
miss the target
2
: to fail to perform or attend
had to miss school for a week
3
: to leave out : omit
in such a hurry that he missed his breakfast
4
: to discover or feel the absence of
missed his wallet as soon as he entered the store
5
: to fail to comprehend, sense, or experience
missed the point of the speech
7
: to fail to obtain
ignorance misses the best things in this life—
W. R. Inge
W. R. Inge1
: to fail to hit something
took another cut at the ball but missed again
2
a
: to be unsuccessful
such a fine prospect that he can't miss
b
: misfire
the engine missed
3
archaic
: to fail to get, reach, or do something
1
a
: a failure to hit
b
: a failure to attain a desired result
2
: misfire
3
chiefly dialectal
: disadvantage or regret resulting from loss
we know the miss of you, and even hunger … to see you—Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson1
capitalized
a
—used as a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or girl
b
—used before the name of a place or of a line of activity or before some epithet to form a title for a usually young unmarried female who is representative of the thing indicated
Miss America
2
: young lady
—used without a name as a conventional term of address to a young woman
3
: a young unmarried woman or girl
4
misses plural
: a clothing size for women of average height and build
Synonyms
Examples of miss in a Sentence
Verb
He swung and missed the ball completely.
The shot missed the goal by inches.
The batter swung and missed.
She took three shots and missed every time.
I would hate to miss this opportunity.
She could have joined us, but she missed her chance.
They missed a payment on their car loan.
He was in such a hurry that he missed breakfast.
See More
Recent Examples on the WebCharna Flam, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2023
The All-Pro back missed four games and had the team’s bye week to rehab the ankle and eventually returned in Week 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
—Scott Thompson, Fox News, 22 Sep. 2023
In the Times magazine interview, David Marchese asks Wenner why nonwhite artists or women were missing from his book.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 21 Sep. 2023
Lisa McKeel, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, argued in court that Taylor should be held until her sentencing for testing positive for marijuana or cocaine on three occasions and missing drug tests in violation of the terms of her release.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2023
Closer to the courtroom but also missing are US lawmakers and their aides, who are occupied across the street at the Capitol trying to avert a government funding collapse that could suspend the trial next month.
—WIRED, 21 Sep. 2023
See you in the stratosphere! Don't miss the next big beauty sale.
—Liana Schaffner, Allure, 21 Sep. 2023
Country Garden last month missed payments on two U.S. dollar bonds but scraped together enough cash before the end of a 30-day grace period to avoid defaulting.
—WSJ, 21 Sep. 2023
Tigers outfielder Riley Greene could miss rest of 2023 season with elbow injury
In the first two innings, the Tigers scored six runs on eight hits.
—Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 3 Sep. 2023
Evan Dudley, al, 16 Sep. 2023
But Morgan State junior defensive end Nana Asante used his 6-foot-7, 230-pound frame to block the try with 10 seconds remaining, tagging Vaughan with his first miss in six attempts this season.
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2023
Sabalenka had opportunities to retrieve the break, but a handful of key misses — including a short ball forehand at deuce in the very next game — allowed Gauff to stay in front the rest of the way.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2023
Their fourth-round pick last season out of LSU, York also made only 75% of his kicks as a rookie, going 24 for 32, with most of his misses coming at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
—cleveland, 30 Aug. 2023
Flagship’s biggest miss of the four was Rubius Therapeutics.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023
Despite the miss, Aubrey rebounded to make field goals of 21 and 38 yards and converted his next four extra-point attempts.
—Calvin Watkins, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2023
How Steichen tries to minimize those misses is the interesting piece.
—The Indianapolis Star, 9 Sep. 2023
The misses included a US president mentioning their Roblox avatar on camera and Tesla using Roblox developers in a promotional effort.
—Jay Peters, The Verge, 8 Sep. 2023
See More
Verb
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2023
The All-Pro back missed four games and had the team’s bye week to rehab the ankle and eventually returned in Week 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
—Scott Thompson, Fox News, 22 Sep. 2023
In the Times magazine interview, David Marchese asks Wenner why nonwhite artists or women were missing from his book.
—Char Adams, NBC News, 21 Sep. 2023
Lisa McKeel, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, argued in court that Taylor should be held until her sentencing for testing positive for marijuana or cocaine on three occasions and missing drug tests in violation of the terms of her release.
—Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 21 Sep. 2023
Closer to the courtroom but also missing are US lawmakers and their aides, who are occupied across the street at the Capitol trying to avert a government funding collapse that could suspend the trial next month.
—WIRED, 21 Sep. 2023
See you in the stratosphere! Don't miss the next big beauty sale.
—Liana Schaffner, Allure, 21 Sep. 2023
Country Garden last month missed payments on two U.S. dollar bonds but scraped together enough cash before the end of a 30-day grace period to avoid defaulting.
—WSJ, 21 Sep. 2023
Tigers outfielder Riley Greene could miss rest of 2023 season with elbow injury
In the first two innings, the Tigers scored six runs on eight hits.
—Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 3 Sep. 2023
Noun
The Blazers were able to drive into the red zone on the back of a late hit call and a 40-yard pass to true freshman Amare Thomas, but came away empty-handed as Matt Quinn fell to 0-of-3 on the season with a miss on a 28-yard field-goal attempt.
—Evan Dudley, al, 16 Sep. 2023
But Morgan State junior defensive end Nana Asante used his 6-foot-7, 230-pound frame to block the try with 10 seconds remaining, tagging Vaughan with his first miss in six attempts this season.
—Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2023
Sabalenka had opportunities to retrieve the break, but a handful of key misses — including a short ball forehand at deuce in the very next game — allowed Gauff to stay in front the rest of the way.
—Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2023
Their fourth-round pick last season out of LSU, York also made only 75% of his kicks as a rookie, going 24 for 32, with most of his misses coming at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
—cleveland, 30 Aug. 2023
Flagship’s biggest miss of the four was Rubius Therapeutics.
—Paolo Confino, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2023
Despite the miss, Aubrey rebounded to make field goals of 21 and 38 yards and converted his next four extra-point attempts.
—Calvin Watkins, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2023
How Steichen tries to minimize those misses is the interesting piece.
—The Indianapolis Star, 9 Sep. 2023
The misses included a US president mentioning their Roblox avatar on camera and Tesla using Roblox developers in a promotional effort.
—Jay Peters, The Verge, 8 Sep. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'miss.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English, from Old English missan; akin to Old High German missan to miss
Noun (2)
short for mistress
First Known Use
Verb
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1
Noun (1)
12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3
Noun (2)
1667, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of miss was
before the 12th century
Phrases Containing miss
Dictionary Entries Near miss
Cite this Entry
“Miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miss. Accessed 26 Sep. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
miss
1 of 3 verb1
: to fail to hit, catch, reach, or get
miss a target
miss the ball
2
: escape entry 1 sense 2, avoid
just missed being hurt
3
a
: to leave out : omit
missed their lunch
b
: to fail to attend
missed three days of school
4
: to discover or feel the absence of
missed our old friends
5
: to fail to understand, sense, or experience
missed the main point of the story
6
: misfire sense 1
the engine missed
miss
2 of 3 noun1
: a failure to reach a desired goal or result
2
: a failure to fire
miss
3 of 3 noun sense 1 is (ˌ)mis,
məs;
sense 2 is ˈmis
1
a
—used as a title before the name of an unmarried woman or girl
b
—used before the name of a place, an activity, an epithet, or a quality to form a title for a girl who represents the thing indicated
Miss America
Miss Punctuality
2
: a young woman or girl
—used as a term of address
this way, Miss
3
plural
: a clothing size for women of average height and build
Etymology
Verb
Old English missan "to fail to reach or get"
Noun
a shortened form of mistress
More from Merriam-Webster on miss
Nglish: Translation of miss for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of miss for Arabic Speakers
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share