child
1 Americannoun
plural
children-
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
noun
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Julia, 1912–2004, U.S. gourmet cook, author, and television personality.
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Lydia Maria (Francis), 1802–80, U.S. author, abolitionist, and social reformer.
noun
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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
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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
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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.
Researchers at Stanford University led by Hyesang Chang set out to better understand why some children find math much harder than their classmates.
From Science Daily
The findings provide new data on the long term health of children whose mothers were vaccinated around the time of pregnancy.
From Science Daily
Rachel Reid addressed this in an “Ask Me Anything” on Reddit, explaining that while she didn’t initially write Shane as neurodivergent, after her own experience parenting a neurodivergent child, she came to see him differently.
From Salon
A man who lives in a neighbouring property said his children have been left "completely shaken" by the incident.
From BBC
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
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.
