Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (UK Und., also bab) a man who has recently been initiated into crime; one who has been committed to trial.

c.1850

Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict. n.p.: Bab or Babe a thief just initiated: one committed for trial.

2. (UK Und.) a confidence trickster’s accomplice.

1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 91: babes the lowest order of knock-outs (which see), who are prevailed upon not to give opposing biddings at auctions, in consideration of their receiving a small sum (from one shilling to half-a-crown), and a certain quantity of beer. babes exist in Baltimore, U.S., where they are known as blackguards and ‘rowdies’.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1873		Sl. Dict.

3. (orig. US) a girl, girlfriend or young woman, esp. if attractive; thus babe alert, a warning to other men to note the approach of an attractive woman [the term entered sl. c.1915, waned somewhat after 1950 but gained a new lease of life, and began to refer to either sex in the late 1980s].

[1620–50		‘Panders, Come Awaye’ in Farmer Merry Songs and Ballads (1897) III 32: True itt is that Babe for yeeres may be a virgin; / But Cupid ffinds the drabb, al ready for a surgyon for the scabb].
1856		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 23 Aug. n.p.: That babe of yours says if you don’t [...] stop sneaking after her, she will give you the sack.
1907		Sun. Times (Perth) 20 Oct. 5/7: Local babelet went to a recently held fancy dress shivoo, covered with miniature whisky bottles, dice, cards, tote tickets, cigarettes, etc. She was labelled ‘Ruination’.
1909		[song title] Fly Away Kentucky Babe.
1914		N.Y. Tribune 23 Aug. 60: 🎵 Glide youre babe o’er the floor to that Spanish drag.
1915		Sport (Adelaide) 8 Jan. 5/3: Luck keeps very quiet lately, the babes in the motor car keep him well occupied.
1915		R. Bolwell ‘College Sl. Words & Phrases’ in DN IV:iii 231: babe, n. A pretty girl. ‘She’s some babe.’.
1928		N.I. White Amer. Negro Folk-Songs 266: [reported from Durham, NC, 1919] Working on the railroad / Ten cents a day, / Working to get my babe some shoes.
1929		Phila. Inquirer 16 June n.p.: A ‘babe’ is any beautiful dumb young lady introduced to the campus.
1939		P. Cheyney Don’t Get Me Wrong (1956) 7: I tell you that babe was talkin’ plenty sense.
1947		I. Shulman Amboy Dukes 18: He liked Kenny’s babe better.
1953		Kramer & Karr Teen-Age Gangs 151: Some of the girls went through while we’re talking and I tell you they was some babes.
1962		(con. 1940s) H. Simmons Man Walking On Eggshells 156: They had a lot of square cats hanging around the Showbar. They had a lot of square babes around there too.
1968		N. Heard Howard Street 71: I hope it’s Gypsy Pearl, man, she’s a fine babe!
1970		A. Young Snakes (1971) 149: He’s even been dating a colored girl—and boy, is she ever a babe.
1979		Lette & Carey Puberty Blues 29: Boys’ boards came before everything. It was waves, then babes.
1986		G.A. Wilkes Exploring Aus. Eng. 7: In 1942, when there was an influx of American servicemen into Australia, the US War and Navy Departments issued a Pocket Guide to Australia which listed common expressions which might be encountered. The Guide explained that [...] to smooge was ‘to pitch woo’, a sheila was ‘a babe’, the Pommies were ‘the British’, shikkered meant ‘drunk’ and jackaroo was ‘a tenderfoot on a sheep ranch’.
1986		J. Ellroy Suicide Hill 62: ‘We’ve got two on-the-sly romances going down [...] Hawley from the B. of A. and his bitch Issler; Eggers from Security Pacific and his babe Confrey’.
1993		M. Myers et al. Wayne’s World II [film script] wayne: Babe alert! We have red level.
1999		Guardian Guide 24–30 July 98: He came up with the hitherto untried method of putting hot babes on the cover of a men’s magazine.
1999		Ozwords 🌐 As noted in the last issue of Ozwords, babe has come to mean ‘a sexually attractive young person of either sex’, and especially in teenage magazines (primarily aimed at teenage girls) the babes are almost invariably male. A boyfriend is a babester. A babefest is an event, especially a party, attended by many sexily good-looking young people. Thus in a teenage context, the second sentence may well mean ‘I saw the most sexy young guy’.
2004		C. Hiaasen Skinny Dip 39: He’s got a babe stashed somewhere?
2004		(con. 1960s-70s) T. Taylor Top Fellas 62/1: A couple of babes walked past.
2010		J. Ellroy Hilliker Curse 9: My dad said he knew a TV babe named Chris Nelson.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 17: She was a one-babe Baedeker.

4. a form of address, irrespective of sex, e.g. Where you goin’, babe?

1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 61: ‘How’s that, babe?’ he asked coolly.
1910		L.A. Herald 13 Nov. 9/1: [lysics] Kiss your minstrel boy goodbye...bye...babe, my...babe.
1926		M. West Sex (1997) Act II: I’ll promise you a new thrill every day, babe.
1928		N.I. White Amer. Negro Folk-Songs 261: [reported from Auburn, AL, 1915–16] Tell him I’m gone, babe, tell him I’m gone. / If he asks you what wuz the matter, / Tell him you don’t know, babe.
1931		W.R. Burnett Silver Eagle 164: ‘Goodbye, babe.’ He heard her laughing. ‘What are you laughing at?’ ‘Nothing.’ [...] ‘Yes, you were.’ ‘Well,’ said Helen, ‘nobody ever called me ‘babe’ before’.
1945		C. Himes ‘The Song Says “Keep on Smiling”’ in Coll. Stories (1990) 88: A hand squeezed her arm and a whiskey-thickened voice whispered, ‘Wanna drink, babe?’.
1952		W.R. Burnett Little Men, Big World 41: What is it, babe—low blood-pressure?
1960		H. Ellison ‘Final Shtick’ in Gentleman Junkie (1961) 16: Sure, Marty. Sure, babe.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 289: She [...] came out and, smiling, asked Mike how he was doing. Pretty good babe.
1974		(con. 1960s) R. Price Wanderers 19: ‘Hey, Richie!’ ‘Hey, babe, what’s goin’ on?’.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 58: I hear you, babe; I just can’t figure out what space you’re in.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 207: Here’s the hard part, babe.
1999		K. Sampson Powder 156: Yeah! I can see your conundrum, babe!
2000		Indep. Rev. 15 May 4: Never mind a book, babe, write the song.
2018		I. Welsh Dead Man’s Trousers [24]: — Em… alright, babe? — Don’t fucking babe me, Mark!

5. something excellent, desirable; also as phr. the babes.

1921		N&Q 12 Ser. IX 466: Babes The. Something very good.
1959		A. Sillitoe ‘Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner’ Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (1960) 24: I looked at an everloving babe of a brand-new typewriter.
1983		S. King Christine 39: No kilometres in little red numbers underneath; when this babe had rolled off the assembly line.

6. (US) used non-sexually.

1930

J. Lait Gangster Girl 124: There’s automatics an’ sub-machine-guns an’ them babes know how to handle ’em.

7. (US campus) an unpleasant woman.

1984

Eble Campus Sl. Sept. 1: babe – an unpleasant female. A derogatory term used by both males and females.

8. used congratulatorily, a person of either sex (though still usu. female).

1922		E. Raymond Tell England (1965) 290: Our babe’s done orl right. He’s killed four, and is now standin’ on ’em.
1965		T. Wolfe Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1966) 6: The old babes at the row upon row of slot machines.
1984		Totally True Diaries of an Eighties Roller Queen 8 Apr. 🌐 Gary got a drive home by my mom. I love him so much. I think he’s such a gorgeous babe. He’s a good kisser too.
1998		C. Fleming High Concept 87: All the girls went ‘Oh, it’s Don, the babe’.
1999		P. Temple Black Tide (2012) [ebook] This hunk, this absolute babe, has come into my life.
1999		Indep. Rev. 14 July 5: The ‘ultimate kick-ass fuck-the-system anarcho babe’.
2002		‘Valley Girls’ on Paranoiafanzine 🌐 I mean, guys, like, always want to do it. Like, I went out with this dude Scott, and he like, wanted to do it in the car. Gross me out! Like, it was a Fiat! I mean, I am so sure. Ok, maybe in a Trans Am, but only if the dude is a total babe.