Meaning & use
miss
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To fail to hit, catch, reach, or achieve something you were aiming at or expecting.
Grammar: Can take an object (miss the target) or stand alone (the shot missed).
Patterns
- miss something
- miss the point
- miss by a distance
He threw the ball but missed the basket.
The arrow missed the target completely.
She missed the last step and almost fell.
verbtransitive
To feel sad because someone or something is not with you.
Grammar: Takes a person or thing as object: I miss my friends.
Patterns
- miss someone
- miss something
- miss doing something
I miss my family when I travel.
She misses her old school friends.
He missed having someone to talk to.
verbtransitive
To be too late for something, such as a bus, train, or event.
Grammar: Takes the thing you are late for as object: miss the train.
Patterns
- miss a bus/train/flight
- miss an appointment
- miss the deadline
Hurry up, or we'll miss the train.
I missed the first ten minutes of the movie.
She missed her flight because of traffic.
verbtransitive
To not notice, hear, or understand something.
Grammar: Often used with 'what' or 'that': I missed what he said.
Patterns
- miss a detail
- miss the point
- miss what someone says
I missed the beginning of the announcement.
You missed a great joke.
He missed the main idea of the article.
verbtransitive
To avoid something bad; to escape or narrowly avoid.
Grammar: Often followed by a noun or -ing form: miss the accident, miss being hit.
Patterns
- miss an accident
- miss being hit
- narrowly miss something
The car missed the tree by inches.
She just missed being injured.
We missed the worst of the storm.
nouncountable
A failure to hit or catch something.
Grammar: Countable: a miss, two misses.
Patterns
- a near miss
- a hit and a miss
The shot was a near miss.
After three misses, he finally hit the target.
It was a hit-or-miss attempt.
Word forms
| third-person singular | misses |
|---|---|
| past tense | missed |
| past participle | missed |
| -ing form | missing |
| plural | misses |
Common combinations
- miss the point
- You're missing the point of the story.
- miss the bus
- If you don't hurry, you'll miss the bus.
- miss a chance
- Don't miss the chance to see this exhibition.
- miss someone's meaning
- I think you missed my meaning.
- near miss
- The plane had a near miss with a bird.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lose
- Use 'lose' for games or contests, not for physical targets; you miss a shot but lose a match.
- overlook
- Overlook suggests ignoring or not noticing on purpose; miss is more accidental.
- long for
- Long for is stronger and more literary than miss when talking about absence.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: miss or lose?
miss vs lose
Lose means to no longer have something; miss means to fail to hit or catch, or to feel sad about absence.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
'Miss' is followed by an -ing form when talking about an action: miss catching. The other options use incorrect patterns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “miss”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.