child
noun
a person between birth and puberty or full growth.
child
1 American
[chahyld]
/ tʃaɪld /
noun
-
children
plural
-
a person between birth and puberty or full growth.
books for children.
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a son or daughter; offspring considered with regard to parents.
All my children are married.
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a baby or infant.
A child of six months can recognize family members.
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a human fetus.
My sister is seven months pregnant with a healthy child.
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a childish person.
He's such a child about money.
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a descendant.
a child of an ancient breed.
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any person or thing regarded as the product or result of particular agencies, influences, etc..
Abstract art is a child of the 20th century.
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a person regarded as conditioned or marked by a given circumstance, situation, etc..
a child of poverty; a child of famine.
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British Dialect, Archaic. a female infant.
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Archaic. childe.
idioms
Child
2
American
[chahyld]
/ tʃaɪld /
noun
-
Julia, 1912–2004, U.S. gourmet cook, author, and television personality.
-
Lydia Maria (Francis), 1802–80, U.S. author, abolitionist, and social reformer.
child
British
/ tʃaɪld /
noun
-
-
a boy or girl between birth and puberty
-
( as modifier )
child labour
-
-
a baby or infant
-
an unborn baby
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another term for pregnant
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a human offspring; a son or daughter
-
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
-
dialect a female infant
child
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of child
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English cild; akin to Gothic kilthai “womb”
Explanation
A child is a young person who's typically older than a baby but younger than a teen. As a child, you probably had your parents watching over you as you played in a sandbox. The noun child come from the Old English word cild, meaning "child, infant." Retaining a similar meaning into modern times, the word still refers to a young person, male or female. But you can be considered a child after reaching adulthood — in the eyes of your parents, at least. Immature behavior like throwing a temper tantrum can also mark you as a child. The word can also refer to someone in a clan or tribe, young or old.
Vocabulary lists containing child
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"When you're a young child what you need is your parents to be able to tell you that things are all right," she said.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Evidence from the skeletal remains of children who lived in prehistoric Vietnam suggests that treponemal diseases could have been passed from mother to child thousands of years ago.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
A child lay beneath a blue sheet, hooked to a respirator, with a team of doctors and nurses clustered around the bed.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
We don’t have to live in a world where people profit from tragedy, be it wildfires or a child with cancer, housing foreclosures or weapons manufacturing.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
Another child hopped around on two feet, smashing the blushers into pink pulp.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The findings from the first year of follow-up have now been analyzed and published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
Roughly 100 students are enrolled in the eight classrooms that have opened since April, according to Juan Cisneros, executive director of Child Start.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Michael Sincere is a MarketWatch contributor and editor and the author of several books, including “Understanding Stocks,” “Understanding Options” and “Help Your Child Build Wealth.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Techniquely,” refreshingly, is about teaching foodies the things that their mothers and Julia Child never taught them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Otherwise, for his only meal every day, he depends upon the Parroquia de San Jose, or St. Joseph’s Parish, and another church, the Parroquia del Santo Nino, the Parish of the Holy Child.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
This latest funding will enable the charity to support around 8,500 children over the next 12 months.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
He lives alone and doesn’t have older parents or young children to care for.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The Miami-Dade court case database confirms that Hilton’s mother Teresita Lavandeira filed a petition for temporary custody over three minor children on Aug. 7.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Brazil has in recent months sought to boost protections for children online, obliging platforms to link the accounts of users under age 16 to their parents' accounts, and verify user age.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
The human children crested the hill, a dozen silhouettes backlit by the rippling green light of Progress.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
