- being a woman or a girl
- a female student/employee/artist/athlete
- She has written brilliant roles for strong female characters.
- a predominantly female audience
- Two of the candidates must be female.
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- belonging to the sex that can lay eggs or give birth to babies
- a female cat
- female reproductive organs
- of women; typical of women; affecting women
- female characteristics
- the female role
- a female preserve (= an activity that only women do)
- Weaving was a traditionally female occupation.
- (biology) (of plants and flowers) that can produce fruit
- (specialist) (of electrical equipment) having a hole that another part fits into
- a female plug
opposite male
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French femelle, from Latin femella, diminutive of femina ‘a woman’. The change in the ending was due to association with male, but the words male and female are not linked etymologically.
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female