foundling
an infant or small child found abandoned; a child without a known parent or guardian.
Origin of foundling
1Words that may be confused with foundling
- fondling, foundling
Words Nearby foundling
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use foundling in a sentence
But not everyone agrees with the use of the modern foundling wheel.
It is true that the parents so provided think more of the twenty-five francs than they do of the foundling.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. LockeThe little blue placard hung over the cot, as in the foundling hospitals, states the child's nationality: "Moldo, Wallachian."
The Nabob | Alphonse DaudetThe foundling Hospital is another of the public institution of which the people are justly proud.
Ways of War and Peace | Delia AustrianMuch in the same way many a modern maiden places her shame-covered infant in the turn-table of a foundling institution.
Ancient Faiths And Modern | Thomas Inman
Perhaps he himself had been a foundling laid on the doorstep long ago, belonging neither to his mother nor to anyone else.
Sinister Street, vol. 1 | Compton Mackenzie
British Dictionary definitions for foundling
/ (ˈfaʊndlɪŋ) /
an abandoned infant whose parents are not known
Origin of foundling
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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