1boy 
/ˈboɪ/ noun
plural boys /ˈboɪ/ noun 1 [count] a : a male child
▪ It's a boy! She gave birth to a baby boy this morning. ▪ a nine-year-old boy named David ▪ Okay, boys and girls, it's time to play a game. ▪ Ever since I was a (little/young) boy, I've wanted to fly airplanes.
b : son
▪ Is this your little boy? ▪ He's our oldest/youngest boy. ▪ That's my boy! Good job, Son. 2 [count] a : a young man
▪ a group of teenage boys ▪ My parents want me to meet a nice boy and get married. ▪ Don't be so hard on him. He's just a boy. ▪ He's a boy genius. ▪ a boy wonder [=a young man who has achieved many great things]
b : a usually young man from a specified kind of place
▪ city/country boys = boys from the city/country ▪ a local/hometown boy ▪ a poor boy from the north ▪ a farm boy [=a young man who lives and works on a farm] 3 a the boys informal : the male friends or work partners of a man viewed as a group
▪ Wait till the boys back home hear about this! ▪ Our boss thinks of himself as just one of the boys. ▪ He went out drinking with the boys.
b [singular] chiefly Brit, old-fashioned : a man of any age ◊The phrases my dear boy and old boy are used as friendly ways for one man to address another man.
▪ Why, my dear boy, of course I want to see you. ▪ Cheer up, old boy. — see also old boy 4 [count] : a man or boy who does a particular job
▪ a messenger boy ◊Boy is often offensive in this sense when the person being described is an adult. — see also altar boy, ball boy, batboy, bellboy, busboy, delivery boy, paperboy
▪ It's a boy! She gave birth to a baby boy this morning. ▪ a nine-year-old boy named David ▪ Okay, boys and girls, it's time to play a game. ▪ Ever since I was a (little/young) boy, I've wanted to fly airplanes.
b : son
▪ Is this your little boy? ▪ He's our oldest/youngest boy. ▪ That's my boy! Good job, Son.
▪ a group of teenage boys ▪ My parents want me to meet a nice boy and get married. ▪ Don't be so hard on him. He's just a boy. ▪ He's a boy genius. ▪ a boy wonder [=a young man who has achieved many great things]
b : a usually young man from a specified kind of place
▪ city/country boys = boys from the city/country ▪ a local/hometown boy ▪ a poor boy from the north ▪ a farm boy [=a young man who lives and works on a farm]
▪ Wait till the boys back home hear about this! ▪ Our boss thinks of himself as just one of the boys. ▪ He went out drinking with the boys.
b [singular] chiefly Brit, old-fashioned : a man of any age ◊The phrases my dear boy and old boy are used as friendly ways for one man to address another man.
▪ Why, my dear boy, of course I want to see you. ▪ Cheer up, old boy. — see also old boy
▪ a messenger boy ◊Boy is often offensive in this sense when the person being described is an adult. — see also altar boy, ball boy, batboy, bellboy, busboy, delivery boy, paperboy
boys will be boys
◊The expression boys will be boys is used to say that it is not surprising or unusual when men or boys behave in energetic, rough, or improper ways.
▪ You shouldn't be too hard on them for staying out so late. Boys will be boys.
▪ You shouldn't be too hard on them for staying out so late. Boys will be boys.
separate the men from the boys — see 2separate
— boy·hood /ˈboɪˌhʊd/ noun [noncount]
▪ the president's early boyhood — often used before another noun ▪ his boyhood home [=where he lived when he was a boy] ▪ boyhood heroes/friends
/ˈboɪˌhʊd/ noun [noncount] ▪ the president's early boyhood — often used before another noun ▪ his boyhood home [=where he lived when he was a boy] ▪ boyhood heroes/friends
— boy·ish /ˈboɪɪʃ/ adjective [more boyish; most boyish]
▪ his boyish good looks ▪ He has a boyish charm about him. ▪ a boyish haircut ▪ She's always had a boyish figure.
/ˈboɪɪʃ/ adjective [more boyish; most boyish] ▪ his boyish good looks ▪ He has a boyish charm about him. ▪ a boyish haircut ▪ She's always had a boyish figure.
— boy·ish·ly adverb
▪ a boyishly handsome actor
▪ a boyishly handsome actor
— boy·ish·ness noun [noncount]
