English

Alternative forms

These are all slang and non-standard forms, used only for the insult (not the female animal):

• biatch/biotch
• beatch/beotch
• biyatch/biyotch
• beeyatch/beeyotch
• bizatch/biznatch

Noun

bitch ‎(plural bitches)

1. A female dog or other canine, particularly a recent mother.

   My bitch just had puppies: they're so cute!

2. (vulgar, offensive) A despicable or disagreeable, aggressive person, typically a woman or man considered effeminate in some way. [from the 15th c]

   Ann gossiped about me and mocked my work; sometimes she can be a real bitch!

   • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, I. iv. 60:

     'Look at the children, you nasty little bitch!' he sneered.

   • 1959, William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, page 70

     HASSAN: "You cheap Factualist bitch! Go and never darken my rumpus room again!"

   • 2016 June 16, Jenna Johnson, "Donald Trump Calls Her 'Crooked Hillary,' but His Fans Just Say 'B----'", Washington Post:

     Although some women may casually use the term among friends or as a sign of empowerment, the b-word is still widely considered a particularly aggressive and demeaning insult when hurled at a woman, especially if it comes from a man.

3. (vulgar, offensive) A submissive person, often female, who does what others want; a slave. [from the 20th c]

   Dude, don't be such a bitch. Assert yourself.

   Do you have to ask your man before you do everything? You must be the bitch in the relationship.

   • 1999 September 23, Chris Sheridan, “This House Is Freakin’ Sweet”, “Peter, Peter, Caviar Eater”, Family Guy, season 2, episode 1, Fox Broadcasting Company

     Now that you're stinking rich, we'd gladly be your bitch.

4. (obsolete, informal, of a man) A playful variation on dog (sense "man"). [from the 16th c]
5. (humorous, colloquial, used with a possessive pronoun) Friend. [from the 20th c]

   What’s up, my bitch?

   How my bitches been doin'?

6. (colloquial) A complaint, especially when the complaint is unjustified.
7. (colloquial, usually only used in the singular) A difficult or confounding problem.

   Level 5 was a real bitch, don’t you think?

   That's a bitch of a question.

8. (colloquial) A queen (playing card), particularly the queen of spades in the card game of hearts.
9. (figuratively) Something unforgiving and unpleasant.

   Karma's a bitch.

10. (informal, slang) Place; situation

    I'm 'bout to get up outta this bitch.

Usage notes

• While bitch's original canine sense permits it to be used in most media, it remains offensive enough that it is frequently minced (b----, b-word, female dog) in formal contexts.

Synonyms

• (female dog, etc): female (when the species is specified or implied)
• (malicious, etc, woman): cow, harpy, vixen, hellcat, hussy
• (malicious, etc, man): bastard
• (jocular slang, one's friend):
• (person in an unfavorable, undesirable position):
• (person in a relationship who is made to adopt a submissive role): doormat
• (a complaint): gripe, grumble, kvetch, moan, whinge
• (difficult or confounding problem): toughie, stinker, pain in the ass
• (to talk about):

Hyponyms

female canine

• vixen, a female fox
• she-wolf

Derived terms

Translations

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523

Verb

bitch ‎(third-person singular simple present bitches, present participle bitching, simple past and past participle bitched)

1. (intransitive) To behave or act as a bitch.
2. (intransitive) To criticize spitefully, often for the sake of complaining rather than in order to have the problem corrected.

   All you ever do is bitch about the food I cook for you!

3. (transitive) To spoil, to ruin.
   • 1924, Ford Madox Ford, Some Do Not…, Penguin 2012 (Parade's End), p. 162:

     ‘You're a Franco-maniac…You're thought to be a French agent…That's what's bitching your career!’

Synonyms

• (make derogatory comments): badmouth, slag off (UK), snipe
• (complain spitefully): gripe, grumble, kvetch, moan, piss and moan, sniff at, whine, whinge
• See also Wikisaurus:complain

Translations

French

Etymology

From English

Noun

bitch f ‎(plural bitchs)

1. bitch (all senses)