What does "girl" mean?
A female child.
Girl
/ˈɡɜːl/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A female child.
- Grammar: girl is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: female child, gal, lass, little girl.
- Useful contrasts: adult, adult female, biddies.
- Usage evidence: When both girls told John they had feelings for him, he was in a quandary as to which girl he should be with.
How to use "girl"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "girl" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "girl" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "girl" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "girl" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "girl" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "female child" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "girl", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A female child. countable, uncountable
"I saw a little girl feeding, brushing, and talking to a heifer."
- 2 a female human offspring wordnet
- 3 A woman, especially a young and often attractive woman. countable, offensive, sometimes, uncountable
"He has a crush on a girl at work. We were kidding with him yesterday about his work crush."
- 4 a youthful female person wordnet
- 5 A term of address to a female (see usage notes) colloquial, countable, uncountable
"Hey, girl, I haven't seen you since last week! Where you been?"
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 a young female wordnet
- 7 One's girlfriend. countable, uncountable
"He lucked out with that girl of his. Smart, sweet, sassy, and pretty too."
- 8 a friendly informal reference to a grown woman wordnet
- 9 One's daughter. countable, uncountable
"Your girl turned up on our doorstep. She was crying about the argument on the playground. We let her vent."
- 10 a girl or young woman with whom a man is romantically involved wordnet
- 11 A female friend. countable, especially, uncountable
- 12 A female non-human animal, especially, in affectionate address, a female pet, especially a dog. countable, uncountable
"Hey, Tricksy, come here, girl! Do you want a treat? Yes, you love those biscuits, don't you! What a good girl! Here's another!"
- 13 A female (tree, gene, etc). childish, countable, uncountable
"Are you getting a boy cat or a girl cat?"
- 14 A machine or vehicle, especially one that the speaker uses often and is fond of. countable, informal, uncountable
"The old girl ain't as pretty as she once was, but she still purrs like a kitten and still gets out of her own way!"
- 15 A female servant; a maid. (see usage notes) countable, uncountable
"He assumed that the girls should clean up his giant mess. We straightened out his misconception."
- 16 Cocaine, especially in powder form. US, slang, uncountable
"He's the sort of lowlife who snorts coke and refers to it as his girl."
- 17 A queen (the playing card). countable, slang, uncommon, uncountable
"Are your sure you want to discard that old girl?"
- 18 A roebuck two years old. UK, countable, dialectal, obsolete, uncountable
- 19 A child of any gender. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To feminize or girlify; to gender as a girl or as for girls. transitive
"Quite different is the way in which the tomboy girled the rebel narrative. In recent years, queer theorists have taken a deep interest in the tomboy as a prefigure for the butch dyke."
- 2 To staff with or as a girl or girls. informal
"Making our way past a one-girl switchboard temporarily girled by two frantic operators, we found the victorious president, Elliott A. Bowles, barely visible behind a heap of telegrams [...]"
Proper Noun
- 1 A Chinese constellation located near Aquarius, one of the 28 lunar mansions and part of the Black Turtle.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"When both girls told John they had feelings for him, he was in a quandary as to which girl he should be with."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "girl"?
Common synonyms include: female child, gal, lass, little girl, miss, missy.
How do you use "girl" in a sentence?
When both girls told John they had feelings for him, he was in a quandary as to which girl he should be with.
How do you pronounce "girl"?
Pronounced /ˈɡɜːl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Calque of Mandarin 女宿 (Nǚxiù).