female has definitions from the fields of zoology,biology
1
[ noun ] (zoology) an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)

Used in print

(B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)

I must add at_once that these animals are what we call `` queens '' , young females that have mated in the previous summer or autumn .

As befits a queen , a bumblebee female is rather choosy and may spend considerable time searching for a suitable nesting_place .

The first worker_bees do not mate or lay eggs ; males and mating females do not emerge until later in the season .

At the old nest , the queen will in the early fall cease to lay the fertilized eggs that will produce females .

Female individuals of Psithyrus look deceptively like the workers and queens of the bumblebees they victimize .

Related terms

male animal dam hen

2
[ adjective ] (biology) being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop

Examples

"a female heir" "female holly trees bear the berries"

Used in print

(The Providence Journal...)

Also fine are Sue_Lawless , as a mother more protective and belligerent than a female spider and just as destructive , Harold_Cherry , as her scratchy spouse , and Hildy_Weissman , as a vegetable in human form .

Most of the female faces are new , or at_least not too familiar .

(B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)

The female parasite spends much time in her efforts to find a nest of her host .

After the male and female andrenas have mated , the cycle is repeated .

(Clifford H. Pope, The Giant Snakes....)

Carpenter 's study showed that female common garter and ribbon_snakes of Michigan mature at about the age of two .

3
[ noun ] a person who belongs to the sex that can have babies

Synonyms

female_person

Used in print

(Clifford H. Pope, The Giant Snakes....)

about three years are required , there being a possible slight difference between males and females in the time required .

(Guy Bolton, The Olympians....)

Pausing in the doorway he said : `` The form of the human female , unlike her mind and her spirit , is the most challenging loveliness in all nature '' .

(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)

Likewise the ivory Chinese female figure known as a `` doctor lady '' ( provenance Honan ) ; a friend of mine removing her from the curio cabinet for inspection was felled as if by a hammer , but he had previously drunk a quantity of applejack .

4
[ adjective ] characteristic of or peculiar to a woman

Synonyms

distaff

Examples

"female sensitiveness" "female suffrage"

Used in print

(Jack Kaplan, "The Health Machine Menace: Therapy by...)

She had - he informed her - kidney trouble , liver trouble , and a severe female disorder .

Related terms

feminine

5
[ adjective ] for or composed of women or girls

Examples

"the female lead in the play" "a female chorus"

Related terms

feminine

*