kid
noun
a child or young person.
kid
1 American
[kid]
/ kɪd /
noun
kids
plural
-
Informal. a child or young person.
-
(used as a familiar form of address.)
-
a young goat.
-
leather made from the skin of a kid or goat, used in making shoes and gloves.
-
a glove made from this leather.
verb (used with or without object)
kidded,
kidding
kid
2
American
[kid]
/ kɪd /
Kid
3
American
[kid]
/ kɪd /
noun
kid
1
British
/ kɪd /
noun
-
the young of a goat or of a related animal, such as an antelope
-
soft smooth leather made from the hide of a kid
-
informal
-
a young person; child
-
(modifier) younger or being still a child
kid brother
kid sister
-
-
dialect my younger brother or sister
verb
kid
2
British
/ kɪd /
verb
-
(tr) to tease or deceive for fun
-
(intr) to behave or speak deceptively for fun
-
(tr) to delude or fool (oneself) into believing (something)
don't kid yourself that no-one else knows
Kid
3
British
/ kɪd /
noun
kid
4
British
/ kɪd /
noun
kid
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of kid1
First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English kide, from Old Norse kith
Origin of kid2
First recorded in 1805–15; perhaps special use of kid 1
Explanation
If a farmer offers to introduce you to her kid, you might not know if she means her child or her baby goat. A kid is a child, informally, and it's also a young goat. Sometimes the word kid means a kind of soft leather made from goat skin. When kid is used as a verb, it means to tease or jokingly deceive someone — to kid them. Some sticklers for formality object to using kid to mean "child," but that meaning has been around since the 1590s. The "teasing" definition of kid comes from the sense of "treat like a 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:
And that’s coming from a guy who never read comic books as a kid.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2026
But if you are a parent of a Gen Alpha kid, it can feel like you hear about nothing but Salish and Jordan Matter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
“I’ve accepted it now, but as a kid, when I first heard the story, you kind of go, well, how do they know he died in the water?” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
PSG have been a club Diomande admired as a kid, with his dad being a supporter of the 14-time French champions.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Dad looks like a kid right before he goes to the dentist.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
You’re developing your own show, based on your book, “Legitimate Kid: A Memoir.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
It's featured bigger acts like Aitch, Window Kid and legendary grime crew Roll Deep - while also giving space for up-and-coming artists like Da Savage.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
“I’m not going to say club life is dead,” said DJ Whoo Kid, a veteran New York radio host.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
In three minutes, I complete the first deck, “Why Your Kid Tunes You Out.”
From Slate ● May 10, 2026
"Oh. I see. Kid, you're already killing me."
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
His office has received emails from parents seeking jobs for their children, and Wolf says he’s always wondered if the kids even knew.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Sam told his doctor that, while he loved kids and had a happy childhood himself, he wanted to stay focused on his job as a sound designer for video games.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Many women wait to have kids until they attain career goals and feel financially secure.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
Every time either Bardem or Cruz gets an offer for a new role, the couple discuss it and then bring their kids into the conversation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
“Not that I recollect. By the time my kids is six, they’ve got chores at home.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
This claim of passivity kidded nobody except maybe himself.
From Slate ● Jun. 16, 2025
“I remember walking across the street to Pickles before the playoffs started. My kids kidded me, said, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if you just walked in there?’”
From Washington Times ● Aug. 4, 2023
Also in the 1960s, Times columnist Jack Smith kinda kidded that a Westside woman told him the only reason to come downtown was to get divorced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
In flight, Sadat kidded her about her salary; his was only $12,000.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 30, 2022
“You sent me to bed without a story last night,” Maniac kidded.
From "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
“My mom made $34,000 a year, single mom raising three kids — she couldn’t pay $4,000 for me to play club soccer. Are you kidding? She couldn’t pay $400,” Donovan said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Responses were respectful but hoped she was kidding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
This continued for days — in tweet after tweet, over and over and over again, he claimed he was kidding.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
“Are you kidding me?…That just compounded the whole situation,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
“Are you kidding me? They’re out there confessing right now. It’s a secret librarian trick to mention cameras,” he says, holding up his fist for dap.
From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist
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.
