girl

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a friendly informal reference to a grown woman

   Mrs. Smith was just one of the girls

2. 2
   noun

   a girl or young woman with whom someone is romantically involved

   My girl kicked me out.

3. 3
   noun

   a youthful female person

   the baby was a girl

4. 4
   noun

   A female child.

   I saw a little girl feeding, brushing, and talking to a heifer.

5. 5
   noun

   A woman, especially a young and often attractive woman.

   He has a crush on a girl at work. We were kidding with him yesterday about his work crush.

6. 6
   noun

   A term of address to a female (see usage notes)

   Hey, girl, I haven't seen you since last week! Where you been?

7. 7
   noun

   One's girlfriend.

   He lucked out with that girl of his. Smart, sweet, sassy, and pretty too.

8. 8
   noun

   One's daughter.

   Your girl turned up on our doorstep. She was crying about the argument on the playground. We let her vent.

Etymology

From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru. Cognates Cognate with Yola gurl (“child, girl”), German Gör, Göre (“brat, cheeky young child”), Low German Gör (“child”).