Boy

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Boy \Boy\, v. t.
     To act as a boy; -- in allusion to the former practice of
     boys acting women's parts on the stage.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           I shall see


           Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster] Boyar

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Boy \Boy\, n. [Cf. D. boef, Fries. boi, boy; akin to G. bube,
     Icel. bofi rouge.]
     1. A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; a lad;
        hence, a son.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              My only boy fell by the side of great Dundee. --Sir
                                                    W. Scott.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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 associaton, fraternity,
           or party.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     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. [derog.]
  
              He reverted again and again to the labor difficulty,
              and spoke of importing boys from Capetown. --Frances
                                                    Macnab.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     {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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  boy
       n 1: a youthful male person; "the baby was a boy"; "she made the
            boy brush his teeth every night"; "most soldiers are
            only boys in uniform" [syn: {male child}] [ant: {female
            child}, {female child}]
       2: a friendly informal reference to a grown man; "he likes to
          play golf with the boys"
       3: a male human offspring; "their son became a famous judge";
          "his boy is taller than he is" [syn: {son}] [ant: {daughter},
           {daughter}]
       4: (ethnic slur) offensive term for Black man; "get out of my
          way, boy"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  93 Moby Thesaurus words for "boy":
     American Indian, Amerind, Australian aborigine, Bushman, Caucasian,
     Indian, Malayan, Mister Charley, Mongolian, Negrillo, Negrito,
     Negro, Oriental, Red Indian, WASP, black, black man, blackfellow,
     bloke, brown man, bub, bubba, buck, bud, buddy, burrhead,
     chauffeur, coachman, colored person, colt, coon, cub, darky,
     driver, equerry, fellow, fledgling, gamin, gardener, gee, gent,
     gentleman, gillie, goody, gook, guy, he, hobbledehoy, honky,
     houseboy, houseman, jigaboo, jungle bunny, lad, laddie,
     lord-in-waiting, man, manchild, manservant, master, muchacho,
     nigger, niggra, ofay, paleface, pup, puppy, pygmy, ragamuffin,
     red man, redskin, schoolboy, slant-eye, small fry, son, sonny,
     sonny boy, spade, street arab, stripling, tad, the Man, urchin,
     valet, valet de chambre, whelp, whippersnapper, white, white man,
     whitey, yellow man, young man, youth