lady
♦♦ lady /l'eɪdi/ (ladies)
1 [N-COUNT]
You can use lady when you are referring to a woman, especially when you are showing politeness or respect.
She's a very sweet old lady...
...a lady doctor.
...a cream-coloured lady's shoe.
see also old lady
2 [N-VOC]
You can say `ladies' when you are addressing a group of women in a formal and respectful way.
Your table is ready, ladies, if you'd care to come through...
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
3 [N-COUNT]
A lady is a woman from the upper classes, especially in former times.
Our governess was told to make sure we knew how to talk like English ladies.
4 [N-TITLE]
In Britain, Lady is a title used in front of the names of some female members of the nobility, or the wives of knights.
My dear Lady Mary, how very good to see you.
5 [N-COUNT]
If you say that a woman is a lady, you mean that she behaves in a polite, dignified, and graceful way.
His wife was great as well, beautiful-looking and a real lady...
6 [N-SING] usu the N
People sometimes refer to a public toilet for women as the ladies. (BRIT INFORMAL)
At Temple station, Charlotte rushed into the Ladies.
7 [N-VOC]
`Lady' is sometimes used by men as a form of address when they are talking to a woman that they do not know, especially in shops and in the street. (AM INFORMAL)
What seems to be the trouble, lady?...
8
see also First Lady, Our Ladybag lady (bag ladies)
[N-COUNT]
A bag lady is a homeless woman who carries her possessions in shopping bags.clean|ing lady (cleaning ladies)
[N-COUNT]
A cleaning lady is a woman who is employed to clean the rooms and furniture inside a building.
= cleanerfirst lady (first ladies)
[N-COUNT] usu the N in sing
The First Lady in a country or state is the wife of the president or state governor, or a woman who performs the official duties normally performed by the wife.lady friend (lady friends)
[N-COUNT] usu poss N
A man's lady friend is the woman with whom he is having a romantic or sexual relationship. (BRIT OLD-FASHIONED)old lady
[N-SING] usu poss N
Some men refer to their wife, girlfriend, or mother as their old lady. (INFORMAL)
He had met his old lady when he was a house painter and she was a waitress.
1 [N-COUNT]
You can use lady when you are referring to a woman, especially when you are showing politeness or respect.
She's a very sweet old lady...
...a lady doctor.
...a cream-coloured lady's shoe.
see also old lady
2 [N-VOC]
You can say `ladies' when you are addressing a group of women in a formal and respectful way.
Your table is ready, ladies, if you'd care to come through...
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
3 [N-COUNT]
A lady is a woman from the upper classes, especially in former times.
Our governess was told to make sure we knew how to talk like English ladies.
4 [N-TITLE]
In Britain, Lady is a title used in front of the names of some female members of the nobility, or the wives of knights.
My dear Lady Mary, how very good to see you.
5 [N-COUNT]
If you say that a woman is a lady, you mean that she behaves in a polite, dignified, and graceful way.
His wife was great as well, beautiful-looking and a real lady...
6 [N-SING] usu the N
People sometimes refer to a public toilet for women as the ladies. (BRIT INFORMAL)
At Temple station, Charlotte rushed into the Ladies.
7 [N-VOC]
`Lady' is sometimes used by men as a form of address when they are talking to a woman that they do not know, especially in shops and in the street. (AM INFORMAL)
What seems to be the trouble, lady?...
8
see also First Lady, Our Ladybag lady (bag ladies)
[N-COUNT]
A bag lady is a homeless woman who carries her possessions in shopping bags.clean|ing lady (cleaning ladies)
[N-COUNT]
A cleaning lady is a woman who is employed to clean the rooms and furniture inside a building.
= cleanerfirst lady (first ladies)
[N-COUNT] usu the N in sing
The First Lady in a country or state is the wife of the president or state governor, or a woman who performs the official duties normally performed by the wife.lady friend (lady friends)
[N-COUNT] usu poss N
A man's lady friend is the woman with whom he is having a romantic or sexual relationship. (BRIT OLD-FASHIONED)old lady
[N-SING] usu poss N
Some men refer to their wife, girlfriend, or mother as their old lady. (INFORMAL)
He had met his old lady when he was a house painter and she was a waitress.