child
noun
a person between birth and puberty or full growth.
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child
1 American
[chahyld]
/ tʃaɪld /
noun
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children
plural
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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
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( as modifier )
child labour
-
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a baby or infant
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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
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a member of a family or tribe; descendant
a child of Israel
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a person or thing regarded as the product of an influence or environment
a child of nature
-
dialect a female infant
child
More Idioms
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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:
She is holding a baby, the youngest of her two kids, and gently snuggling with the child.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2026
In a statement, ICE said that "in this case, the parent stated they wanted to be removed without the child and left the child in the care of a safe relative in the United States".
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
She wants to make student services easier to navigate and to strengthen financial aid and other support, including for food, housing, child care and mental health.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Disneyland would be dull by comparison for any child who loves trucks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Such perfect control is only possible when a child is taken at an early age and carefully and continually taught to practice the muscles which grow stiff in later years.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Barone is an assistant professor in the Biology Department of Stanford's School of Humanities and Sciences and is affiliated with Bio-X and the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
Alex Jenner, from Help a Guernsey Child, said: "Over the past 25 years, we have seen significant changes in the types of support families require."
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026
Jonathan Burton was a clarion Malcolm, Duncan’s eldest son and heir; soprano Jazmine Saunders had an eerie, offstage cameo as the apparition of the Bloody Child.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Child lived in the house for roughly four decades and filmed several of her later television shows there, including “In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs” and “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home.”
From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2026
Klin teaches at Yale University’s Child Study Center in New Haven, where he has a patient whom he has been studying for many years whom I'll call Peter.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
In the summer, they helped find children who got lost, often after wandering away from their parents' campsites.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
In the 1940s, this process left a putrid scum so foul in Maine’s Androscoggin River that residents of Lewiston would vomit, and enterprising children would sell clothespins for clamping over noses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
"We are doing what we can, crying. I've got my two children here who are supporting me a lot, but we're having a really hard time," Barrio said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2026
Bruno has worked as a therapist helping children and been a community college student.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
Once she’s cured, she’ll return to the Philippines and reunite with Cynthia and the children of Tala.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
