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• kid
  kid

  noun

  a child or young person.
• Kid
  Kid

  noun

  Thomas. Kyd, Thomas.

kid

¹ American  

[kid] / kɪd /

noun

kids plural

1. Informal. a child or young person.

2. (used as a familiar form of address.)

3. a young goat.

4. leather made from the skin of a kid or goat, used in making shoes and gloves.

5. a glove made from this leather.

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verb (used with or without object)

kidded, kidding

1. (of a goat) to give birth to (young).

adjective

1. made of kidskin.

2. Informal. younger.

   his kid sister.

kid ² American  

[kid] / kɪd /

verb (used with object)

kidded, kidding

1. to talk or deal jokingly with; banter; jest with.

   She is always kidded about her accent.

   Synonyms:

   rib, josh, tease

2. to humbug or fool.

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verb (used without object)

kidded, kidding

1. to speak or act deceptively in jest; jest.

Kid ³ American  

[kid] / kɪd /

noun

1. Thomas. Kyd, Thomas.

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kid ¹ British  

/ kɪd /

noun

1. the young of a goat or of a related animal, such as an antelope

2. soft smooth leather made from the hide of a kid

3. informal

   1. a young person; child

   2. (modifier) younger or being still a child

      kid brother

      kid sister

4. dialect my younger brother or sister

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verb

1. (of a goat) to give birth to (young)

kid ² British  

/ kɪd /

verb

1. (tr) to tease or deceive for fun

2. (intr) to behave or speak deceptively for fun

3. (tr) to delude or fool (oneself) into believing (something)

   don't kid yourself that no-one else knows

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Kid ³ British  

/ kɪd /

noun

1. a variant spelling of (Thomas) Kyd

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kid ⁴ British  

/ kɪd /

noun

1. a small wooden tub

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kid Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing kid

• handle with (kid) gloves
• kidding

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• kidder
  noun
• kiddishness
  noun
• kiddish
  adjective
• kidlike
  adjective
• kiddingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• kids
  plural

Etymology

Origin of kid¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English kide, from Old Norse kith

Origin of kid²

First recorded in 1805–15; perhaps special use of kid ¹

Explanation

If a farmer offers to introduce you to her kid, you might not know if she means her child or her baby goat. A kid is a child, informally, and it's also a young goat. Sometimes the word kid means a kind of soft leather made from goat skin. When kid is used as a verb, it means to tease or jokingly deceive someone — to kid them. Some sticklers for formality object to using kid to mean "child," but that meaning has been around since the 1590s. The "teasing" definition of kid comes from the sense of "treat like a child."

Example Sentences

AS A KID, December’s ubiquitous cookie plates disappointed — a bit surprising, given how often I baked cookies.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 28, 2023

MAMA'S KID had speed inside and inched away, set the pace along the rail, came off the fence into the stretch and drew clear in the final furlong under urging.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2019

COACH’S KID: If things get loud in Rupp near the end of a Kentucky rout, it might be fans clamoring for Calipari to put his son, Brad, on the floor.

From Washington Times • Oct. 27, 2016

SO HOW DID A KID from Tennessee end up with the keys to Jimi Hendrix’s spaceship?

From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 12, 2015

Early articles, which had depicted her as “well-dressed,” “striking,” the family “perfect,” had given way to snide and vaguely accusatory ones of the ilk of MOM SEZ: NOT MY KID.

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Related Words

• baby
• boy
• child
• daughter
• girl
• infant
• son
• teenager
• youngster
• youth