- old boy(British English) a man who used to be a student at a particular school, usually a private one/ˈəʊld bɔɪ//ˈəʊld bɔɪ/
- They’re having an old boys’ reunion next month.
- old boy(especially British English, informal) an informal way of referring to an old man that can show a lack of respect/ˌəʊld ˈbɔɪ//ˌəʊld ˈbɔɪ/
- The old boy next door has died.
see also good old boy, old girl
Idioms
See old boy in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarythe old boy network
- (British English, informal, often disapproving) (especially in the past) the situation in many British companies, government departments and branches of the armed forces where people give jobs to former students of the school or university that they went to
- Recruiting staff used to be done by means of the old boy network.
- Most of the managers were chosen by the old boy network and many of them turned out to be incompetent.
Check pronunciation:
old boy