miss

II. miss2 S2 BrE AmE noun
[Word Family: verb: ↑miss; noun: ↑miss; adjective: ↑missing]
[Sense 1-4, 7: Date: 1600-1700; Origin: mistress]
[Sense 5-6: Date: 1200-1300; Origin: ⇨ ↑miss1]
1. Miss used in front of the family name of a woman who is not married to address her politely, to write to her, or to talk about her ⇨ Mrs, Mr:
I’d like to make an appointment with Miss Taylor.
► Some unmarried women prefer to be addressed as Ms because it does not draw attention to whether or not they are married.
2. Miss Italy/Ohio/World etc used to refer to a woman who represents a country, city etc in a beauty competition
3. YOUNG WOMAN spoken used as a polite way of speaking to a young woman when you do not know her name ⇨ madam, sir:
Excuse me, miss, you’ve dropped your umbrella.
4. TEACHER British English spoken used by children when speaking to a female teacher, whether she is married or not ⇨ sir:
I know the answer, Miss.
5. give something a miss British English informal to decide not to do something:
I’d better give the coffee a miss. I’m due at a meeting in half an hour.
6. NOT HIT/CATCH [countable] an occasion when you fail to hit, catch, or hold something:
Will he score a goal this time? No, no it’s a miss.
7. YOUNG GIRL [countable] British English spoken a young girl, especially one who has been bad or rude:
She’s a cheeky little miss.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

noun

TITLE/FORM OF ADDRESS
1. Miss used before the family name, or the first and family name, of a woman who is not married, in order to speak or write to her politely
• That's all, thank you, Miss Lipman.

compare Mrs, Ms

2. Miss a title given to the winner of a beauty contest in a particular country, town, etc.
• Miss Brighton

• the Miss World contest

3. Miss (informal) used especially by men to address a young woman when they do not know her name

• Will that be all, Miss?

4. Miss (BrE, informal) used as a form of address by children in some schools to a woman teacher, whether she is married or not
• Good morning, Miss!

compare sir

5. (old-fashioned) a girl or young woman

NOT HIT, CATCH, ETC.
6. a failure to hit, catch or reach sth
• He scored two goals and had another two near misses.
Word Origin:

v. and n. sense 6 Old English missan Germanic Dutch German missen
n. senses 1 to 5 mid 17th cent. mistress

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

miss / mɪs / noun (GIRL)

[ C ] a girl or young woman, especially one who behaves rudely or shows no respect:

You're a cheeky little miss! Apologize at once.

miss / mɪs / noun [ C ] (NOT HIT)

an occasion when something or someone fails to hit something or avoids hitting something:

Well done! You scored eight hits and only two misses.

→ See also near miss

miss / mɪs / noun (NOT DO)

give sth a miss C1 UK informal to avoid or not do something:

We usually go to France in the summer, but we've decided to give it a miss this year.

The restaurant's very good for fish, but I'd give their vegetarian options a miss.

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

Miss

/mɪs/
(Misses)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.
You use Miss in front of the name of a girl or unmarried woman when you are speaking to her or referring to her.
It was nice talking to you, Miss Giroux...
N-TITLE

2.
In some schools, children address their women teachers as Miss. (mainly BRIT)
‘Chivers!’—‘Yes, Miss?’
N-VOC

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

³miss noun, pl misses
1 Miss
a
- used as a title before the name of an unmarried woman or girl
• Miss Jones
- compare mrs., ms.
b
- used as a title before the name of a married woman who does not use her husband's name
• Miss Bette Davis
c
- used as part of a title for a girl or young woman who has won a contest (such as a beauty contest) and who represents the place or thing indicated
• Miss America
d Brit
- used by children as a way to address a female teacher;
2 a
- used as a polite way to address a girl or young woman
• Can I help you, miss?
b [count] old-fashioned : a girl or young woman
• a talented young miss
3 misses [plural] US : a clothing size for women of average height and weight - usually used before another noun
• misses dresses

miss

²miss noun, pl misses [count]
1 : a failure to hit something
• She hit the target five straight times without a miss.
• His first shot was a bad miss.
2 : a failure to reach a desired goal or result
• Her movies have been a mixture of hits and misses. [=some have been successful and some have not]
- see also hit-and-miss, near miss
give (something) a miss chiefly Brit informal : to choose not to do (something) or go (somewhere)
• I had so much else to do that I decided to give the party a miss.