child
1 Americannoun
plural
children-
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
noun
-
Julia, 1912–2004, U.S. gourmet cook, author, and television personality.
-
Lydia Maria (Francis), 1802–80, U.S. author, abolitionist, and social reformer.
noun
-
-
a boy or girl between birth and puberty
-
( as modifier )
child labour
-
-
a baby or infant
-
an unborn baby
-
another term for pregnant
-
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
Other Word Forms
- childless adjective
- childlessness noun
- childly adjective
Etymology
Origin of child
First recorded before 950; Middle English; Old English cild; akin to Gothic kilthai “womb”
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.
As a psychologist in the occupied West Bank, I have spent my career sitting across from children carrying burdens no child should ever know — lives shaped not by playgrounds or classrooms, but by constant fear.
From Los Angeles Times
On our last trip, we brought 50-pound bags of powdered milk to the children’s hospital.
From Salon
The ritual gave her an excuse to return the gifts and use the store credit on presents for her children she placed under the tree.
From Los Angeles Times
Under Ghana's Cybersecurity Act 2020, anyone who publishes explicit images of children or adults without full consent can face up to 25 years in prison.
From BBC
Relative child poverty here is twice the national UK average.
From BBC
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.
