foster family

[fahs-ter fam-uh-lee, fam-lee]

noun

1. a family that provides legal guardianship and home care to a child awaiting long-term placement.

2. a family that provides a home and care for a pet awaiting adoption or for a wild animal that is orphaned or recovering from an injury.

Example Sentences

He remembers seeing a car with an English number plate arriving at his foster family’s farm, when he was about nine.

From BBC

The daughter of an American GI, Williams was raised in a children's home and with a foster family in Tonyrefail, her brother said.

From BBC

The teen, from Honduras and identified only as "Henry," was taken away from his foster family in Pensacola, Florida, "in handcuffs and leg irons," the Miami Herald reported.

From Salon

Amber was being cared for by a foster family near Bramshaw, in the New Forest, when she escaped after just a night there on 25 April.

From BBC

A 2-month-old black bear cub recently rescued from the woods is now being raised by a new, faux fuzzy foster family: humans dressed as bears at the San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Wildlife Center.

From Los Angeles Times