boy
part of speech
noun (boy, boys); interjection (Boy! Oh boy!)
meaning for a pupil
1) A boy is a male child or a young man. tree →
2) «Boy!» or «Oh boy!» is said to show surprise or excitement, mostly in the USA. tree →
3) (casual) «The boys» means a group of male friends: «out with the boys»; «boyo» (Wales, Ireland), «laddie» (Scotland) are friendly words for a boy. tree →
4) (casual) «Boy» or «good boy» is said to a dog. tree →
5) (rude) Calling a grown man «boy» can be an insult; «mummy's boy» teases a boy who is close to his mum. tree →
6) (formal) Exams and forms say «male pupil», «a male child», «juvenile» or «a minor». tree →
sense in the lessons
people counted in a class or group, often next to girls; together they make the class; boys + girls = children; phrases: «a little boy», «boys and girls», «schoolboy», «the boys' team», «boyfriend»; in casual talk «the boys», «lads», «oh boy», «good boy» (to a dog); in rough talk «oi, boy, get over here», «mummy's boy»; in the exam voice «male pupils», «the number of male candidates», «the proportion of boys»
examples
- There are 14 boys and 16 girls in the class. tree →
- Each boy gets 3 pencils. tree →
- How many more girls than boys are there? tree →
- The boys picked 40 apples. tree →
- The boy next door has a dog. tree →
- Good morning, boys and girls! tree →
- The boys' football team won the cup. tree →
- Oh boy, 3 pizzas just for us! tree →
- Out with the boys, 6 of us, back by 9. tree →
- Good boy, Rex, sit! tree →
- A class comprises 30 pupils, of whom 14 are male. State the number of female pupils. tree →
- Stop teasing him and calling him a mummy's boy. tree →
- He was quite a practical boy. tree →
note
Plural: boys. Possessive: boy's (one boy), boys' (many boys). A thing counted. Boys + girls = children. Trap: «how many more girls than boys» is a difference, not a sum. «male pupils» in an exam means boys. «Oh boy» counts no boy. Teasing names like «mummy's boy» are unkind.
In the corpora
- Bridesmaids are friends or relatives who help the bride and walk with her, and children can be flower girls or page boys.
- A bot has no body, so it is neither a boy nor a girl; a name and voice are design choices.
- Warmer sand gives more girl hatchlings and cooler sand more boys, and bright beach lights can lead hatchlings the wrong way.
- Picture a boy who dreams of a husky in a small flat while everyone is out all day.
- «Very well sung, boys!» cries the Rat.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «boy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.