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• hide-and-seek
  hide-and-seek

  noun

  one of a variety of children's games in which, according to specified rules, one player gives the others a chance to hide and then attempts to find them.
• hide and seek
  hide and seek

  see play hide and seek.

hide-and-seek

American  

[hahyd-n-seek] / ˈhaɪd nˈsik /

noun

1. one of a variety of children's games in which, according to specified rules, one player gives the others a chance to hide and then attempts to find them.

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hide-and-seek British  

noun

1. a game in which one player covers his eyes and waits while the others hide, and then he tries to find them

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hide and seek Idioms  

1. see play hide and seek.

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Etymology

Origin of hide-and-seek

First recorded in 1665–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hide-and-seek hide and seek

The next morning, when Bonnie returns sad and tired, we learn that the other girls played hide-and-seek and left Bonnie all on her own to use their tablets.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

Yasuo Yamamoto grew up playing hide-and-seek between old barrels in the storehouse where his family has been brewing soy sauce for more than 150 years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026

With $9.1 million, fourth place went to Searchlight's "Ready or Not 2," a follow-up to the 2019 original comedy horror in which a bride must survive a deadly game of hide-and-seek with her new in-laws.

From Barron's ● Mar. 22, 2026

Did the screenwriters toss around a dozen other playground games — killer dodgeball, killer cornhole, killer freeze tag — before sticking with the same hide-and-seek set-up?

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026

Except at recess the kids wanted to play hide-and-seek.

From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis

A group of teenage girls played hide and seek around a World War II monument on a hill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

No spoilers, but it’s no coincidence that “Here I Come” finally gets more interesting once it tires of hide and seek.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026

“I know! I am very good at playing hide and seek with black holes”, quotes radio waves.

From Space Scoop ● Mar. 27, 2025

A neighbour in Zhengzhou, Henan, captured the video of the child, who was reportedly playing hide and seek, and shouted to them to go back inside.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2023

It sounded almost jovial, as if they’d been playing hide and seek.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss