MISS, n.

1. The title of a young woman or girl; as, little masters and misses. Swift.
2. A kept mistress; a prostitute retained; a concubine. Dryden.

1. Loss; want. There will be no great miss of these which are lost. Locke.
2. Mistake; error. He did without any great miss in the hardest points of grammar. [Little used.] Ascham.
3. Harm from mistake. [Obs.] Spenser.

1. To fail to hit; to fly wide; to deviate from the true direction. Flying bullets now, / To execute his rage, appear too slow; / They miss, or sweep but common souls away. Waller.
2. Not to succeed; to fail. Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss. Bacon.
3. To fail; to miscarry, as by accident. The invention all admired, and each, how he / To be the inventor missed. Milton.
4. To fail to obtain, learn or find; with of. On the least reflection, we can not miss of them. Atterbury.
5. To fail; to mistake. Spenser.

1. To fail in aim; to fail of reaching the object; not to hit; as, to miss the mark; to miss the object intended.
2. To fail of finding the right way; to err in attempting to find; as, to miss the way or the road.
3. To fail of obtaining. Orgalus feared nothing but to miss Parthenia. Sidney.
4. To learn or discover that something is wanting, or not where it was supposed to be; as, to miss one's snuff-box; I missed the first volume of Livy. Neither missed we any thing. Nothing was missed of all that pertained to him. 1 Sam. xxv.
5. To be without; as, we can not miss him. [Obs.] Shak.
6. To omit; to pass by; to go without; to fail to have; as, to miss a meat of victuals. She would never miss one day / A walk so line, a sight so gay. Prior.
7. To perceive the want of. What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss. Milton. He who has a firm sincere friend, may want all the rest, without missing them. South.
8. To fail of seeing or finding.

1. A title of courtesy prefixed to the name of a girl or a woman who has not been married. See Mistress, 5.
   
   

   * There is diversity of usage in the application of this title to two or more persons of the same name. We may write either the Miss Browns or the Misses Brown.

2. To fail of hitting, reaching, getting, finding, seeing, hearing, etc.; as, to miss the mark one shoots at; to miss the train by being late; to miss opportunites of getting knowledge; to miss the point or meaning of something said.
   
   

   When a man misses his great end, happiness, he will acknowledge he judged not right. Locke.

3. To fail to hit; to fly wide; to deviate from the true direction.
   
   

   Men observe when things hit, and not when they miss. Bacon.

   Flying bullets now,
   To execute his rage, appear too slow;
   They miss, or sweep but common souls away. Waller.

4. The act of missing; failure to hit, reach, find, obtain, etc.
5. A young unmarried woman or a girl; as, she is a miss of sixteen.
   
   

   Gay vanity, with smiles and kisses,
   Was busy 'mongst the maids and misses. Cawthorn.

6. To omit; to fail to have or to do; to get without; to dispense with; -- now seldom applied to persons.
   
   

   She would never miss, one day,
   A walk so fine, a sight so gay. Prior.

   We cannot miss him; he does make our fire,
   Fetch in our wood. Shak.

7. To fail to obtain, learn, or find; -- with of.
   
   

   Upon the least reflection, we can not miss of them. Atterbury.

8. Loss; want; felt absence.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   There will be no great miss of those which are lost. Locke.

9. A kept mistress. See Mistress, 4.
   
   
   [Obs.] Evelyn.
10. To discover the absence or omission of; to feel the want of; to mourn the loss of; to want.
    
    
    Shak.

    Neither missed we anything . . . Nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him. 1 Sam. xxv. 15, 21.

    What by me thou hast lost, thou least shalt miss. Milton.

    To miss stays. (Naut.) See under Stay.

11. To go wrong; to err.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    Amongst the angels, a whole legion
    Of wicked sprites did fall from happy bliss;
    What wonder then if one, of women all, did miss? Spenser.

12. Mistake; error; fault.
    
    
    Shak.

    He did without any great miss in the hardest points of grammar. Ascham.

13. In the game of three-card loo, an extra hand, dealt on the table, which may be substituted for the hand dealt to a player.
14. To be absent, deficient, or wanting.
    
    
    [Obs.] See Missing, a.

    What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend. Shak.

15. Harm from mistake.
    
    
    [Obs.] Spenser.