From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishladlad /læd/ ●●○ S3 noun [countable] British English 1 old-fashioned or informalYOUNG a boy or young man → lass a young lad Things were different when I was a lad.► see thesaurus at man2 → the lads3 → a bit of a lad4 → lad culture5 (also stable lad)DSH a boy or man who works with horses SYN stable boy → Jack the Lad
Examples from the Corpus
young lad• For a young lad, he has surprised me.• He's a young lad who was employed in the house here, living in.• A young lad, a boy; probably still an adolescent and little for his age at that.• He had been a recruit in his class, a bright young lad.• They've put together a side of young lads and journeyman pros, and that is meant as a compliment.• Hadn't he actually been elected to the State Senate - old Jack Ryan's youngest lad?• Two young lads from Hafnarfjödur, a small fishing village near Reykjavik, were going like loonies.• But Carrick has now gained an age where young lads metaphorically doff their caps and older spectators offer grudging respect.Origin lad (1200-1300) Perhaps from a Scandinavian language 