boy

Definitions

1. 1.A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad; hence, a son. My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee. Sir W. Scott. Note: Boy is often used as a term of comradeship, as in college, or in the army or navy. In the plural used colloquially of members of an assosiaton, fraternity, or party. Boy bishop, a boy (usually a chorister) elected bishop, in old Christian sports, and invested with robes and other insignia. He practiced a kind of mimicry of the ceremonies in which the bishop usually officiated. The Old Boy, the Devil. [Slang] -- Yellow boys, guineas. [Slang, Eng.] -- Boy's love, a popular English name of Southernwood (Artemisia abrotonum);) -- called also lad's love. -- Boy's play, childish amusements; anything trifling.
2. 2.To act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage. I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. Shak.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "boy" mean?
• What is another word for "boy"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is boy.

• What is to act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of boys acting women's parts on the stage. I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. Shak called?