I. boy 1 S1 W1 /bɔɪ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Perhaps from Frisian boi 'boy' ]
1 . a male child, or a male person in general ⇨ girl :
The boys wanted to play football.
boys and girls aged 11–18
a teenage/adolescent boy
A group of teenage boys stood talking in a group outside.
bad/naughty boy
‘You naughty boy!’ she said in a harsh voice.
What a polite little boy (=young male child) you are.
Come on, Timmy, act like a big boy (=an older boy) now.
2 . a son:
I love my boys, but I’d like to have a girl, too.
How old is your little boy (=young son) ?
3 . office/paper/delivery etc boy a young man who does a particular job
4 . city/local/country boy informal a man of any age who is typical of people from a particular place, or who feels a strong connection with the place he grew up in:
The classic story of a local boy who’s made good (=who has succeeded) .
I’m just a country boy.
5 . the boys [plural] informal a group of men who are friends and often go out together:
Friday is his night out with the boys.
He considers himself just one of the boys (=not anyone special, but liked by other men) .
6 . a way of talking to a male horse or dog:
Good boy!
7 . boys [plural] informal
a) a group of men who do the same job:
Oh no! Wait until the press boys get hold of this story.
b) men in the army, navy etc, especially those who are fighting in a war:
our boys on the front lines
8 . boys will be boys used to say that you should not be surprised when boys or men behave badly, are noisy etc
9 . the boys in blue informal the police
10 . old boy/my dear boy British English old-fashioned a friendly way for one man to speak to another man
11 . American English not polite an offensive way of talking to a black man
⇨ ↑ blue-eyed boy , ⇨ jobs for the boys at ↑ job (15), ⇨ MAMA’S BOY , MUMMY’S BOY , ↑ old boy , ↑ wide boy
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ man an adult male human:
a young man
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Sir Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Mount Everest.
▪ guy ( also bloke/chap British English ) informal a man:
She’d arranged to meet a guy in the bar.
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Alex is a really nice bloke.
▪ gentleman formal a man – used as a very polite way of talking about a man:
an elderly gentleman
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Please could you serve this gentleman?
▪ boy a young male person, usually a child or a teenager:
a teenage boy
▪ lad old-fashioned informal a boy or young man:
When I was a young lad, I wanted to join the army.
▪ youth a teenage boy or young man – used especially in news reports to show disapproval:
Gangs of youths roam the streets.
▪ male formal a man – used especially by the police or in science and research contexts. The adjective male is much more common than the noun:
We are investigating the death of an unidentified male.
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The condition is usually found only in males.
▪ dude American English informal a man - a very informal use:
You could tell there was something creepy going on with that dude.
II. boy 2 BrE AmE interjection American English informal
1 . used when you are excited or pleased about something:
Boy, that was a great meal!
2 . oh boy! used when you are slightly annoyed or disappointed about something:
Oh boy! Bethany’s sick again.