kid glove

American  

noun

1. a glove made of kid leather.

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idioms

1. handle with kid gloves, to treat with extreme tact or gentleness.

   He's upset, so handle him with kid gloves today.

kid glove British  

noun

1. a glove made of kidskin

2. to treat with great tact or caution

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adjective

1. overdelicate or overrefined

2. diplomatic; tactful

   a kidglove approach

Etymology

Origin of kid glove

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

I wonder if that's a kid glove, "You're a very special poodle" thing that they tell actors to sedate them when they enter a job.

From Salon • May 2, 2023

From what we witnessed of the kid glove treatment he received this week, the man ain't lying.

From Salon • Jan. 13, 2023

Relentlessly confrontational, Hartley seemed more iron fist than kid glove.

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2022

Thick coarse white hair fell over his forehead and his skin was leathery but pale, yellowish-white like an old wrinkled-up kid glove.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 14, 2013

He had a way of sitting near the stage and applauding by flapping his handkerchief against the palm of his white kid glove, which so enraged me that I never acknowledged the flowers.

From Confessions of an Opera Singer by Howard, Kathleen