lad S2 W3 /læd/ BrE AmE noun [countable] British English
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Origin: Perhaps from a Scandinavian language ]
1 . old-fashioned informal a boy or young man ⇨ lass :
a young lad
Things were different when I was a lad.
2 . the lads spoken a group of male friends that a man works with or spends his free time with:
a night out with the lads
one of the lads (=a member of your group of friends)
3 . a bit of a lad spoken a man that people like even though he behaves rather badly:
That Chris is a bit of a lad, isn’t he?
4 . lad culture informal the way in which some young men behave, involving typically male activities such as drinking a lot of alcohol, driving fast cars, and watching football – used to show disapproval
5 . ( also stable lad ) a boy or man who works with horses SYN stable boy
⇨ ↑ Jack the Lad
• • •
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.