Boy
Boy ({not transcribed}) , noun
[Compare Dutch boef, Fries. boi, boy; akin to German bube, Icelandic bofi rouge.]
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.
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 associaton, fraternity, or party.
2.
In various countries, a male servant, laborer, or slave of a native or inferior race; also, any man of such a race; -- considered derogatory by those so called, and now seldom used. [derogatory]
He reverted again and again to the labor difficulty, and spoke of importing boys from Capetown.
Collocations (5)
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, English]
Boy's love , a popular English name of Southernwood (Artemisia abrotonum); -- called also lad's love.
Boy's play , childish amusements; anything trifling.
Boy , transitive verb
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.