babe — ODE · Shobdo

babe /beɪb

▸ noun

1 informal a sexually attractive person (typically used of a young woman):

he's been pumping up his pecs to impress the babes.

2 informal (also babes) an affectionate form of address, typically for someone with whom one has a sexual or romantic relationship:

hey babes, I know it is unscrupulous and underhand, but don't blame me!

it was the best day of my life—except for meeting you, babe.

3 literary a baby:

you have a babe, who will surely be treated as a king when he grows.

▪ an innocent or helpless person:

I wish you weren't quite such a babe.

– PHRASES

babe in arms a baby that is too young to walk:

her first child is still only a babe in arms.

babe in the woods
an innocent or naive person, especially one in a difficult or dangerous environment:

she was no babe in the woods and knew exactly what she was doing

he knows how to handle himself in NY, unlike we mere babes in the wood who live here in Seattle.

[with reference to the traditional tale Babes in the Wood, in which two children are abandoned in a wood]

– ORIGIN late Middle English (in babe (sense 3 of the noun)): probably imitative of an infant's first attempts at speech. Compare with baby.