Dictionary entry

Miss (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Miss, v. t. [imp. & p. p.Missed (mĭst); p. pr. & vb. n.Missing.] [AS. missan; akin to D. & G. missen, OHG. missan, Icel. missa, Sw. mista, Dan. miste. √100. See Mis-, pref.] 1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.