DictionaryAI

ladies

noun
LAY-deez/ˈleɪdiz/

4 meanings of ladies

Practice

  1. 1
    noun
    Plural of lady. Use this when talking about more than one woman.

    The ladies sat together at the front table.

    Several ladies arrived early for the meeting.

    Note
  2. 2
    nouneuphemisticBritishuncountable
    A public restroom set aside for women.

    She slipped off to the ladies during the interval.

    The ladies is just past the cloakroom on the left.

    Note
  3. 3
    nounslang
    In poker, a starting hand made up of two queens.

    Like starting a race a few steps ahead of everyone else.

    He looked down at his cards and saw ladies.

    Getting ladies before the flop felt like a strong start.

    Similarqueens

    Note

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    nounobsoletegenitive
    Genitive (possessive) of lady. This old form shows that something belongs to a lady.
    The morrow next about the wanted howre, / The Dwarfe cald at the doore of Amyas, / To come forthwith unto his Ladies bowre.
    1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie QueeneHere, Ladies means lady's, so the room belonging to his lady.
    Vrge not my fathers anger (Eglamoure) / But thinke vpon my griefe (a Ladies griefe) / And on the iuſtice of my flying hence, / To keepe me from a moſt vnholy match, / Which heauen and fortune ſtill rewards with plagues.
    1589, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”Here, Ladies means lady's, so the grief of a lady.
    Note

ladies is a form of lady

lady, noun: A woman. People often say lady to be polite instead of woman. Full entry

Forms
ladyladies plural
Spelling
lady → ladies: change y to i, add -es
Sound
The ending sounds like /z/.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from a misspelling of "ladies'", meaning a women's toilet.