kid

¹ American  

[kid] / kɪd /

noun

1. Informal. a child or young person.

2. (used as a familiar form of address.)

3. a young goat.

4. leather made from the skin of a kid or goat, used in making shoes and gloves.

5. a glove made from this leather.

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verb (used with or without object)

kidded, kidding

1. (of a goat) to give birth to (young).

adjective

1. made of kidskin.

2. Informal. younger.

   his kid sister.

kid ² American  

[kid] / kɪd /

verb (used with object)

kidded, kidding

1. to talk or deal jokingly with; banter; jest with.

   She is always kidded about her accent.

   Synonyms:

   rib, josh, tease

2. to humbug or fool.

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verb (used without object)

kidded, kidding

1. to speak or act deceptively in jest; jest.

Kid ³ American  

[kid] / kɪd /

noun

1. Thomas. Kyd, Thomas.

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kid ¹ British  

/ kɪd /

noun

1. the young of a goat or of a related animal, such as an antelope

2. soft smooth leather made from the hide of a kid

3. informal

   1. a young person; child

   2. (modifier) younger or being still a child

      kid brother

      kid sister

4. dialect my younger brother or sister

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verb

1. (of a goat) to give birth to (young)

kid ² British  

/ kɪd /

verb

1. (tr) to tease or deceive for fun

2. (intr) to behave or speak deceptively for fun

3. (tr) to delude or fool (oneself) into believing (something)

   don't kid yourself that no-one else knows

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Kid ³ British  

/ kɪd /

noun

1. a variant spelling of (Thomas) Kyd

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kid ⁴ British  

/ kɪd /

noun

1. a small wooden tub

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kid Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing kid

• handle with (kid) gloves
• kidding

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Other Word Forms

• kidder noun
• kiddingly adverb
• kiddish adjective
• kiddishness noun
• kidlike adjective

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

“I may be the new kid on the block,” Nichols told me afterward with a grin, “but I’ve been fighting for better schools for 42 years.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2026

My kid is going to want to play a vintage pinball machine.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

"Xintong is wonderfully talented and seems a genuinely nice kid who is super talented at snooker, and at the minute he is the best player on the planet."

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

“Parents are way underestimating whether their kid is already doing this — way underestimating,” said Sarah J. Clark, the co-director of the C.S.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026

Jonah watched the next few kids, watched the way Mr. Hodge seemed so determined that each kid touch the rock, that each hand linger on the rock for at least a couple of seconds.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• baby
• boy
• child
• daughter
• girl
• infant
• son
• teenager
• youngster
• youth