BOY SCOUT Definition & Meaning

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Boy Scout

noun

a member of an organization of boys ��ǲ��ĂS��ǳܳٲ�, founded in England in 1908 by Lieutenant General Sir Robert S. S. Baden-Powell, that seeks to develop certain skills in its members, as well as character, self-reliance, and usefulness to others.
(lowercase) a member of any similar society elsewhere.
(lowercase) Sometimes Disparaging. a person whose deeds, obliging personality, idealism, etc., exceed normal expectations.

boy scout

noun

See Scout
informal.
an apparently virtuous and innocent person

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Sensitive Note

Use of boy scout to mean “someone who is obliging and idealistic” usually implies that the person is naive or unworldly.

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Boy Scout¹

First recorded in 1905–10

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The Boy Scouts of America, by comparison, agreed to pay $2.46 billion.

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Our columnist remembers his time with the late filmmaker, who famously loathed dissecting his work — but hung on to a Boy Scout ethos one couldn’t help but love.

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Whenever I spoke with him, he was unfailingly polite, the embodiment of a Boy Scout upbringing that he’d sometimes embrace, maybe to mess with people, maybe not.

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He joined the Boy Scouts and attended school through eighth grade and worked for a year as a bar boy at Ye Olde Town Tavern.

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Inside, a photograph that identified her as the show’s “stunt mistress” showed her guiding a blindfolded Boy Scout as he tried to identify an elephant.

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