Miss

Multiple Entries:
  miss    Miss.    Ms  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
miss1

▶verb

• 1 fail to hit, reach, or come into contact with.

• 2 fail to notice, hear, or understand.

  ■ fail to attend, watch, or participate in.

  ■ be too late to catch (a passenger vehicle).

  ■ avoid or escape.

• 3 (miss someone/something out) Brit. fail to include; omit.

• 4 notice the loss or absence of.

  ■ feel regret or sadness at the absence of.

• 5 (of an engine or vehicle) misfire.

▶noun an instance of missing something.

■ a record or film that is unsuccessful.

– phrases
give something a miss Brit. informal decide not to do or have something.
miss the boat (or bus) informal be too slow to take advantage of something.
not miss a trick informal never fail to take advantage of a situation.

– derivatives
missable adjective.

– origin OE missan, of Gmc origin.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
miss2

▶noun

• 1 (Miss) a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or girl.

  ■ the title of a beauty queen: Miss World.

  ■ used to address a female shop assistant, teacher, etc.

• 2 a girl or young woman, especially one regarded as silly.

– derivatives
missish adjective.

– origin C17: abbrev. of mistress.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
miss3

▶noun informal a miscarriage.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
Miss.

▶abbreviation Mississippi.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
Ms/mɪz/

▶noun a title used before the surname or full name of a woman regardless of her marital status (a neutral alternative to Mrs or Miss).

– origin 1950s: combination of Mrs and miss2.