sis ‧ ter S1 W1 /ˈsɪstə $ -ər/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sweostor ]
1 . a girl or woman who has the same parents as you ⇨ brother , half-sister , step-sister :
Janet and Abby are sisters.
He has two sisters and a brother.
older/big sister
My older sister is a nurse.
younger/little sister
Where’s your little sister?
She’s my twin sister.
2 . sister paper/publication/company etc a newspaper etc that belongs to the same group or organization:
the Daily Post’s sister paper, the Liverpool Echo
3 . ( also Sister ) a ↑ nun :
Good morning, Sister Mary.
4 . British English ( also Sister ) a nurse in charge of a hospital ↑ ward :
the ward sister
I’m feeling a bit better today, Sister.
5 . a word used by women to talk about other women and to show that they have feelings of friendship and support towards them:
We appeal to our sisters all over the world to stand by us.
6 . American English spoken a way of talking to or about an African-American woman, used especially by African Americans
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ adjectives
▪ an older sister ( also an elder sister especially British English )
He had two older sisters, Karen and Jacqueline.
▪ a big sister (=an older sister)
She misses her big sister dreadfully.
▪ a younger sister
Mary showed a lot of aggressive behaviour towards her younger sister.
▪ a little/kid sister (=a younger sister)
She was very fond of her little sister.
▪ a baby sister (=a sister who is still a baby)
He wanted a baby sister.
▪ a twin sister
He is devoted to his twin sister.
▪ a half-sister (=a sister with only one parent the same as yours)
She doesn't see her half-sister very often.