51Թ

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View synonyms for

miss

1

[mis]

verb (used with object)

  1. to fail to hit or strike.

    to miss a target.

  2. to fail to encounter, meet, catch, etc..

    to miss a train.

  3. to fail to take advantage of.

    to miss a chance.

  4. to fail to be present at or for.

    to miss a day of school.

  5. to notice the absence or loss of.

    When did you first miss your wallet?

  6. to regret the absence or loss of.

    I miss you all dreadfully.

  7. to escape or avoid.

    He just missed being caught.

  8. to fail to perceive or understand.

    to miss the point of a remark.



verb (used without object)

  1. to fail to hit something.

  2. to fail of effect or success; be unsuccessful.

noun

  1. a failure to hit something.

  2. a failure of any kind.

  3. an omission.

  4. a misfire.

verb phrase

  1. to fail to take advantage of, experience, etc..

    You missed out on a great opportunity.

  2. Britishto omit; leave out.

miss

2

[mis]

noun

plural

misses 
  1. (initial capital letter)a title of respect for an unmarried woman, conventionally prefixed to her name or to the name of that which she represents.

    Miss Mary Jones; Miss Sweden.

  2. (used by itself, as a term of address, especially to a young woman).

    Miss, please bring me some ketchup.

  3. (initial capital letter)a title prefixed to a mock surname used to represent a particular attribute of the person, especially one excessively prominent.

    Miss Innocent; Miss Congeniality.

  4. a young unmarried woman; girl.

    a radiant miss of 18 or so.

  5. misses,

    1. a range of sizes, chiefly from 6 to 20, for garments that fit women of average height and build.

    2. the department or section of a store where these garments are sold.

    3. a garment in this size range.

miss.

3

abbreviation

  1. mission.

  2. missionary.

Miss.

4

abbreviation

  1. Mississippi.

miss

1

/ ɪ /

verb

  1. to fail to reach, hit, meet, find, or attain (some specified or implied aim, goal, target, etc)

  2. (tr) to fail to attend or be present for

    to miss a train

    to miss an appointment

  3. (tr) to fail to see, hear, understand, or perceive

    to miss a point

  4. (tr) to lose, overlook, or fail to take advantage of

    to miss an opportunity

  5. (tr) to leave out; omit

    to miss an entry in a list

  6. (tr) to discover or regret the loss or absence of

    he missed his watch

    she missed him

  7. (tr) to escape or avoid (something, esp a danger), usually narrowly

    he missed death by inches

  8. to lose an opportunity

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a failure to reach, hit, meet, find, etc

  2. informalto avoid (something)

    give the lecture a miss

    give the pudding a miss

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Miss.

2

abbreviation

  1. Mississippi

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Miss

3

/ ɪ /

noun

  1. a title of an unmarried woman or girl, usually used before the surname or sometimes alone in direct address

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

miss

4

/ ɪ /

noun

  1. informalan unmarried woman or girl, esp a schoolgirl

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Gender Note

See Ms.
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • missable adjective
  • unmissable adjective
  • unmissed adjective
  • ˈ adjective
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of miss1

First recorded before 900; Middle English missen, mis(e), Old English missan; cognate with Old Frisian missa, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Old High German missen, Old Norse missa “to fail to hit or reach”

Origin of miss2

First recorded in 1600–10; short for mistress
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of miss1

Old English missan (meaning: to fail to hit); related to Old High German missan, Old Norse missa

Origin of miss2

C17: shortened from mistress

Origin of miss3

C17: shortened form of mistress
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. miss fire. fire.

In addition to the idioms beginning with miss, also see heart misses a beat; hit or miss; near miss; not miss a trick.
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

One further back, Scheffler remains a presence but is yet to find his best form this week, summed up by an ugly missed par putt from two feet at the eighth.

From

"When these signals are missing, people don't assume neutrality, they assume tension."

From

Paramedics rushed the man to the emergency room at UCLA, where doctors determined that a bullet had just missed his heart and was lodged in his chest.

From

He missed the final chicane on his first lap of the top 10 shootout and had to be reminded not to push too much in the braking zones.

From

"When people are still missing, how can they possibly complete the DNA process by tomorrow? What if my niece's remains have not even been found? The wait is killing us," he said.

From

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When To Use

What is a basic definition ofmiss?

Miss means to fail to hit something, to fail to meet something, or to feel sadness over the absence or loss of something. The word miss has several other senses as a verb and a noun.To miss something is to fail to hit or strike something, as with an arrow missing a target. If a runaway vehicle misses a stop sign, then it doesn’t smash into it.



  • Real-life examples: If you throw a basketball to your friend and they don’t catch it, the ball misses. When a baseball player misses a baseball with their bat, they try to hit the ball with the bat but fail to. A bowling ball that doesn’t knock down any pins has missed them.


  • Used in a sentence: Luckily, the falling tree branch missed me by a few inches and landed on the ground instead of on my head. 


Miss is used in this same sense as a noun to mean a failure to strike something.



  • Used in a sentence: All of his attempts to throw the basketball into the hoop were misses. 


Miss is also used to mean to fail to meet something or someone.



  • Real-life examples: If you are late meeting up with a friend, they might leave and you’ll miss them. If you take too long to get to the bus stop, the bus will leave without you and you’ll miss it.


  • Used in a sentence: She missed the morning train and had to wait until the next one came. 


Miss is also used to mean to feel sad that something is gone or absent.



  • Real-life examples: Parents often miss their children after they move out of the house. Everybody misses loved ones who have died. A person may miss a favorite food that is no longer being made.


  • Used in a sentence: The freezing man missed the heat of Florida.


Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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