missed; missing; misses
Definition of miss
(Entry 1 of 4)
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
1
: to fail to hit something
took another cut at the ball but missed again
2a
: 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
miss a beat
miss out on
miss the boat
: to deviate from regular smooth performance
the company changed ownership without missing a beat
: to lose a good opportunity for
missed out on a better job
: to fail to take advantage of an opportunity
miss
noun (1)Definition of miss (Entry 2 of 4)
1a
: 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
miss
noun (2)Definition of miss (Entry 3 of 4)
1
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
Miss
abbreviationDefinition of Miss (Entry 4 of 4)
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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Time Traveler for miss
The first known use of miss was before the 12th century
See more words from the same century