boys-and-girls
- noun
- Archaic
- The medicinal properties of boys-and-girls were used to treat various ailments in the past.
- adolescent boys-and-girls
- identity among boys-and-girls
Examples
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Most of the boys and girls in same-sex classes perceived that those classes had more intense competition than coeducational classes.
Academic text (2005) -
Boys and girls enjoy action and adventure, science fiction, and nonfiction similarly (Woolcott, 2001, p. 42).
Academic text (2005) -
Hey, all you boys and girls out there!
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There was an even split of boys and girls.
Academic text (2009) -
What we want: Boys and girls talk about reading.
Academic text (2012) -
All the little boys and girls are tucked in bed.
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Finally, it was interesting to note the differences in the level of enjoyment between boys and girls in physical education.
Academic text (2005) -
In addition, the association between achievement behavior and athletic identity differs for boys and girls.
Academic text (2005) -
Boys and girls, Tannen said, "grow up in different worlds, even if they grow up in the same house."
Academic text (2012) -
Boys and girls in this study did not differ in their amount of sport participation and had similar athletic identity scores.
Academic text (2005)
Synonyms
A small annual herb from Europe and North Africa that often grows as a weed
A small yearly weed once used in herbal medicine to make people throw up or pass water
Surface Forms
Etymology
Boys-and-girls is a folk name for the annual plant Mercurialis annua that comes from the fact that the species has separate 'male' and 'female' plants, so people thought of them as 'boys' and 'girls'. So, the name now refers to that plant, which was once used in simple medicines.