child
a person between birth and puberty or full growth: books for children.
a son or daughter; offspring considered with regard to parents: All my children are married.
a baby or infant: A child of six months can recognize family members.
a human fetus: My sister is seven months pregnant with a healthy child.
a childish person: He's such a child about money.
a descendant: a child of an ancient breed.
any person or thing regarded as the product or result of particular agencies, influences, etc.: Abstract art is a child of the 20th century.
a person regarded as conditioned or marked by a given circumstance, situation, etc.: a child of poverty; a child of famine.
British Dialect, Archaic. a female infant.
Archaic. childe.
Idioms about child
with child, pregnant: She's with child.
Origin of child
1Other words from child
- child·less, adjective
- child·less·ness, noun
Words Nearby child
Other definitions for Child (2 of 2)
Julia, 1912–2004, U.S. gourmet cook, author, and television personality.
Lydia Maria (Francis), 1802–80, U.S. author, abolitionist, and social reformer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use child in a sentence
Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion | Nina Strochlic | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIn Sweden parents can use those days up until the child turns 12.
How Good Dads Can Change the World | Gary Barker, PhD, Michael Kaufman | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents.
Thank Congress, Not LBJ for Great Society | Julian Zelizer, Scott Porch | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTIt needs to be said: bigotry in the name of religion is still bigotry; child abuse wrapped in a Bible verse is still child abuse.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen | Parker Molloy | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAt least one child in CAR has been killed or gravely injured per day, and 10,000 have been recruited into militant groups.
You would not think it too much to set the whole province in flames so that you could have your way with this wretched child.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniHe shrank, as from some one who inflicted pain as a child, unwittingly, to see what the effect would be.
The Wave | Algernon BlackwoodThis is one of the most striking manifestations of the better side of child-nature and deserves a chapter to itself.
Children's Ways | James SullyThe mother's lips could not finish the charge she was about to put upon her innocent child.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterIn Luke it is said, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom.”
Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel Conway
British Dictionary definitions for child
/ (tʃaɪld) /
a boy or girl between birth and puberty
(as modifier): child labour
a baby or infant
an unborn baby: Related prefix: paedo-
with child another term for pregnant
a human offspring; a son or daughter: Related adjective: filial
a childish or immature person
a member of a family or tribe; descendant: a child of Israel
a person or thing regarded as the product of an influence or environment: a child of nature
Midland English and Western English dialect a female infant
Origin of child
1Derived forms of child
- childless, adjective
- childlessness, noun
- childly, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with child
In addition to the idiom beginning with child
, also see
- second childhood
.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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