Miss

n. [Contracted from mistress, q. v.] 1. Young woman or girl; as, little masters and misses;—chiefly used as a title of address, prefixed to the name of an unmarried female. Gay vanity, with smiles and kisses, Was busy ’mongst the maids and misses. Cawthorn. 2. A kept mistress; a prostitute retained; a concubine. [Obs.] “She being taken to be the Earl of Oxford’s miss.” Evelyn. When this title is applied to two or more ladies of the same name, there is a diversity of usage. In conversation, we say, the Miss Smiths; and this was formerly the custom in writing, as shown in the practice of Burke, Boswell, and many others. Of late, it has become customary, in writing, to use misses; as, the Misses Smiths; and although there is still some diversity, this may be considered as the prevailing usage. Such are the statements of the latest English grammarians. See Miss.

1Sense 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. To succeed; to fail. Observe when things hit, and not when they miss. Bacon. The invention all admired, and each how he To be the inventor missed. Milton. 3. To fail to obtain, learn, or find; — with of. On the least reflection, we can not miss of them. Atterbury. 4. To fail; to mistake; to err. Amongst the angels, a whole legion Of wicked spirits did fall from happy bliss; What wonder, then, if one, of women all did miss? Spenser.

n. [Icel. missa, loss, M. H. Ger. misse. See supra.] 1. Loss; want; felt absence. And make the Grecians find His miss in much death. Chapman. There will be no great miss of those which are lost. Locke. 2. Mistake; error. He did without any great miss in the hardest points of grammar. Ascham. 3. Harm from mistake. [Obs.] Spenser.