missed; missing; misses
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
7
: to fail to obtain
ignorance misses the best things in this life—
W. R. Inge
W. R. Inge1
: 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
1
a
: a failure to hit
b
: a failure to attain a desired result
2
: misfire
3
chiefly dialectal
: disadvantage or regret resulting from loss
we know the miss of you, and even hunger … to see you—Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson1
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
Synonyms
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.
Noun (1)
a television season with far fewer hits than misses
Noun (2)
a talented young miss who wants to become a writer
you should ask that young miss if she would like to dance
Recent Examples on the WebNatalie Wallington, Kansas City Star, 24 May 2024
Over the years, Bergen and Chloe have maintained a close relationship, and the Murphy Brown star doesn’t miss a chance to sing her daughter praises.
—Jessica Booth, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024
Experienced umpires also miss a healthy percentage of calls, which led to the desire to replace them with ABS in the first place.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us.
—Caitlin Babcock, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 May 2024
An emotional support alligator is missing in Georgia.
—Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 23 May 2024
Police also noted Butler's glasses, a broken hammer and a pistol potentially missing from a purse that belonged to Kelley were found at the scene.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 23 May 2024
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 juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 12 May 2024
Culinary Masters 2024 Don’t miss the food event of the year.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 12 May 2024
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2024
With the Wolves leading by three, on back to back possessions Reid put back misses, including an emphatic slam off another Edwards miss.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 19 May 2024
Gobert rebounded the miss and fired an outlet pass to Conley, who had a clean look at the buzzer.
—Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 19 May 2024
In mammoth conferences, the misses matter immensely.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 15 May 2024
There have been several misses, too, particularly in the middle and late rounds, but no one has a high success rate in those rounds.
—Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2024
That shrank the average miss distance to about 10 feet.
—John Ismay, New York Times, 11 May 2024
Without divisions, and with the likelihood that head-to-head won’t apply because of the misses, the formula starts to look less like subtraction and more like something suitable for Isaac Newton.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 6 May 2024
Howard Schultz took to LinkedIn on Sunday to discuss the significant miss.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 6 May 2024
Verb
An investigation into why the zoo did not have the proper permit to bring the missing alligator into the school is still active.
—Natalie Wallington, Kansas City Star, 24 May 2024
Over the years, Bergen and Chloe have maintained a close relationship, and the Murphy Brown star doesn’t miss a chance to sing her daughter praises.
—Jessica Booth, Peoplemag, 24 May 2024
Experienced umpires also miss a healthy percentage of calls, which led to the desire to replace them with ABS in the first place.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us.
—Caitlin Babcock, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 May 2024
An emotional support alligator is missing in Georgia.
—Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 23 May 2024
Police also noted Butler's glasses, a broken hammer and a pistol potentially missing from a purse that belonged to Kelley were found at the scene.
—Emily Mae Czachor, CBS News, 23 May 2024
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 juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 12 May 2024
Culinary Masters 2024 Don’t miss the food event of the year.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 12 May 2024
Noun
Those two shots, forged from nine straight misses, nailed by a woman wearing Kobe Bryant shoes and determined to honor Kobe Bryant’s memory.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 25 May 2024
With the Wolves leading by three, on back to back possessions Reid put back misses, including an emphatic slam off another Edwards miss.
—Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 19 May 2024
Gobert rebounded the miss and fired an outlet pass to Conley, who had a clean look at the buzzer.
—Bennett Durando, The Denver Post, 19 May 2024
In mammoth conferences, the misses matter immensely.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 15 May 2024
There have been several misses, too, particularly in the middle and late rounds, but no one has a high success rate in those rounds.
—Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2024
That shrank the average miss distance to about 10 feet.
—John Ismay, New York Times, 11 May 2024
Without divisions, and with the likelihood that head-to-head won’t apply because of the misses, the formula starts to look less like subtraction and more like something suitable for Isaac Newton.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 6 May 2024
Howard Schultz took to LinkedIn on Sunday to discuss the significant miss.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 6 May 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.
Dictionary Entries Near miss
Cite this Entry
“Miss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/miss. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
miss
1 of 3 verb1
: 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 noun1
: 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
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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