miss

1 of 4

verb

missed; missing; misses

transitive verb

1
: to fail to hit, reach, or contact
miss the target
2
: to fail to perform or attend
had to miss school for a week
3
: to leave out : omit
in such a hurry that he missed his breakfast
4
: to discover or feel the absence of
missed his wallet as soon as he entered the store
5
: to fail to comprehend, sense, or experience
missed the point of the speech
6
: escape, avoid
just missed hitting the other car
7
: to fail to obtain
ignorance misses the best things in this lifeW. R. Inge

intransitive verb

1
: to fail to hit something
took another cut at the ball but missed again
2
a
: to be unsuccessful
such a fine prospect that he can't miss
b
: misfire
the engine missed
3
archaic : to fail to get, reach, or do something
missable adjective

miss

2 of 4

noun (1)

1
a
: a failure to hit
b
: a failure to attain a desired result
2
3
chiefly dialectal : disadvantage or regret resulting from loss
we know the miss of you, and even hunger … to see youSamuel Richardson

miss

3 of 4

noun (2)

1
capitalized
a
used as a title prefixed to the name of an unmarried woman or girl
b
used before the name of a place or of a line of activity or before some epithet to form a title for a usually young unmarried female who is representative of the thing indicated
Miss America
2
: young lady
used without a name as a conventional term of address to a young woman
3
: a young unmarried woman or girl
4
misses plural : a clothing size for women of average height and build

Miss

4 of 4

abbreviation

Phrases
miss a beat
: to deviate from regular smooth performance
the company changed ownership without missing a beat
miss out on
: to lose a good opportunity for
missed out on a better job
miss the boat
: to fail to take advantage of an opportunity

Examples of miss in a Sentence

Verb He swung and missed the ball completely. The shot missed the goal by inches. The batter swung and missed. She took three shots and missed every time. I would hate to miss this opportunity. She could have joined us, but she missed her chance. They missed a payment on their car loan. He was in such a hurry that he missed breakfast.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Esme Mazzeo, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2024 Rice added 20 points and seven rebounds and Osborne just missed a triple-double with 15 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists and three steals. Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2024 Doctors prescribed painkillers and vitamins for her back and abdominal pain, but every appointment cost her a day’s wages and a fee for missing work. Qadri Inzamam Saumya Khandelwal, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024 Bullet wounds, blast injuries from explosions and treating patients with missing limbs were the norm at Gaza’s European Hospital as the Detroit orthopedic surgeon spent a week in December on a medical mission with Rahma Worldwide, a humanitarian nonprofit based in Beverly Hills, Michigan. Detroit Free Press, 23 Mar. 2024 Laura had missed the Big 12 championships due to surgery. Maddie Hartley, Kansas City Star, 23 Mar. 2024 Investigators say four bolts used to help secure the panel appeared to be missing after the plane was worked on at a Boeing factory in Renton, Washington. Julia Gomez, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024 Heat players have missed the NBA’s fourth-most games due to injury after missing the eighth-most last season. Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 23 Mar. 2024 If this condition of the title report is wrong (e.g., misses a lien recorded against the two-foot encroachment), the title insurance company has no liability. Christopher A. Combs, The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024
Noun
But Austin Reaves’ driving basket with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter was followed by Poole’s miss with less than two seconds left and sent the game to overtime. Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024 The lack of accountability between HR and management was a major miss. Kathleen Lucente, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 Aimaq then tipped in a miss by Jaylon Tyson, giving the lead back to Cal with 45 seconds left. Jeff Faraudo, The Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2024 Monday’s end-to-end game could have gone either way, though Ronaldo will likely regret his staggering miss in the second half which could have seen Al-Nassr progress to the semifinals. George Ramsay, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 My point is, the hits outnumber the misses — and there’s no going home hungry. Tom Sietsema, Washington Post, 8 Mar. 2024 His fastball has touched 96 mph, and the shape of his slider is good, but his overall command has been a tick off, with many of his misses in his last outing against the Angels Tuesday night just inches off the plate. Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 7 Mar. 2024 Offensive rebounding has also been a struggle this season, collecting just 8.2 of their own misses per game — ranking 13th out of 14 teams in the league. Hunter Bailey, Charlotte Observer, 1 Mar. 2024 The Demon Deacons had multiple chances to pull to within a possession in the second half, but Damari Monsanto missed a 3-pointer with his team down five followed by another one after the Demon Deacons had rebounded his first miss. Aaron Beard, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'miss.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Old English missan; akin to Old High German missan to miss

Noun (2)

short for mistress

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (1)

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Noun (2)

1667, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of miss was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near miss

Cite this Entry

“Miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miss. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

miss

1 of 3 verb
1
: to fail to hit, catch, reach, or get
miss a target
miss the ball
2
: escape entry 1 sense 2, avoid
just missed being hurt
3
a
: to leave out : omit
missed their lunch
b
: to fail to attend
missed three days of school
4
: to discover or feel the absence of
missed our old friends
5
: to fail to understand, sense, or experience
missed the main point of the story
6
: misfire sense 1
the engine missed

miss

2 of 3 noun
1
: a failure to reach a desired goal or result
2
: a failure to fire

miss

3 of 3 noun
 sense 1 is  (ˌ)mis,
məs;
 sense 2 is  ˈmis
1
a
used as a title before the name of an unmarried woman or girl
b
used before the name of a place, an activity, an epithet, or a quality to form a title for a girl who represents the thing indicated
Miss America
Miss Punctuality
2
: a young woman or girl
used as a term of address
this way, Miss
3
plural : a clothing size for women of average height and build
Etymology

Verb

Old English missan "to fail to reach or get"

Noun

a shortened form of mistress

More from Merriam-Webster on miss

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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