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Girl Scout

Girl Scout

30 1.8
A girl who belongs to a group that teaches skills and helps other people
  • noun
  • /ɡɜrl skaʊt/
translation icon : scout
  • During the event, the Girl Scout proudly presented her community service project to the audience.

Because bringing those two to the Pentagon was like bringing Brad Pitt to a Girl Scout party, right?

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Examples

  • By nature, she was a good Girl Scout, always prepared for any eventuality.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I was a Girl Scout once, in Indiana, toasting marshmallows around a campfire, and singing "Juanita" in close harmony.

  • Guess those years as a Girl Scout paid off.

  • We were selling Girl Scout cookies?

  • You are such a Girl Scout.

  • I also have a leadership role in the local Girl Scout council and am active with the children in my church.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Family, church, school, and Girl Scouts were important to her as she grew up.

    Blog text (12)
  • And she is taking her young daughter to a Girl Scout camp just north of Santa Barbara.

  • She sells Girl Scout Cookies.

  • There is much paperwork, many rules, and serious regulations to form a Girl Scout troop these days.

    Blog text (3)

Synonyms

Scout
vsGirl Scout
362 2.1

A young person in a youth group who learns outdoor skills, teamwork, and leadership

focuses on personal development and community service for young females

Surface Forms

Girl Scout singular
Girl Scouts plural

Morphology

girl + Scout

The meaning is directly compositional: 'girl' + 'scout' denotes a scout who is a girl, i.e. a member of the Girl Scouts organization. This structure is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Girl Guides/Girl Scouts) and a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer the intended meaning.

Etymology

The name Girl Scout comes from the words girl and scout, where a 'scout' is someone who explores and learns outdoors. When the organization began, it helped young girls learn new skills, do community work, and earn badges, so today a Girl Scout means 'a girl who is a member of that group'.