female
/ˈfi:meɪl; `fimel/ adj
1
(a) of the sex that can give birth to children or produce eggs 女的; 母的; 雌性的
a female dog, cat, pig, etc 母狗、 母猫、 母猪.
(b) (of plants and flowers) producing fruit （指树木、 花卉）结果实的, 雌性的, 有雌蕊的
a female fig-tree 雌性无花果树.
2 of or typical of women 妇女的; 女性的; 女性特有的
female suffrage 妇女选举权
the female mentality 妇女心态.
3 (of a plug, socket, etc) having a hollow part designed to receive an inserted part （指插头、 插座等）有内孔的, 凹的. female, n
1 female animal or plant 雌性的动物或植物.
2 (often derog 常作贬义) woman 女人
Who on earth is that female he's with? 跟他在一起的那个女人究竟是谁? female, NOTE ON USAGE 用法:
1
(a) Male and female are nouns and adjectives used to indicate the sex of living things *male和female既可作名词也可作形容词, 用以表示生物的性别
a male/female giraffe, bird, sardine, child, flower, etc 公[母]长颈鹿、 鸟、 沙丁鱼; 男[女]孩子; 雄性的[雌性的]花等
The males in the herd protect the females and the young. 兽群中的雄性动物保护雌性动物和幼仔.
(b) When speaking of humans the adjectives male/female refer especially to the physical features of one sex or the other *male/female作形容词用於人时, 尤指男女的性别特徵
The male voice is deeper than the female. 男性的嗓音比女性的低沉.
the female figure 女性的身材.
(c) When speaking about occupations, we usually say
a woman doctor/women doctors (NOT a female doctor/female doctors, though we do say a male doctor, NOT a man doctor). 谈到男女的 职业, 通常说
a woman doctor/ women doctors（不可说a female doctor/ female doctors, 但却一定要说a male doctor, 而不可说a man doctor）.
(d) The nouns male/female should not be used to refer to people (as opposed to their qualities, etc) *male/female作名词时不能用以指人. They can give offence, esp female. 用於指人时会引起反感, 尤其是female一词. We use man/woman instead 这时要用man/woman
Men have more body hair than women. 男人的寒毛比女人的多.
2
(a) Masculine and feminine are adjectives used to describe the behaviour, appearance, etc considered normal or acceptable for humans of one sex or the other. *masculine和feminine为形容词, 用以描述所谓正常的或公认的男女之别, 如行为、 外貌等. They can therefore be used of the `opposite' sex
a man can be described as feminine but not female 形容男人可用feminine而不可用female
She dresses in a very feminine way. 她穿得非常女性化.
She has a deep masculine voice. 她的声音像男人的那样低沉.
(b) As nouns and adjectives masculine and feminine (as well as neuter) indicate grammatical gender. *masculine和feminine（以及neuter）作名词和形容词, 分别用以指语法中的阳性和阴性（以及中性）.