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• kid
  kid

  noun

  a child or young person.
• Kid
  Kid

  noun

  Thomas. Kyd, Thomas.

kid

¹ American  

[kid] / kɪd /

noun

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

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

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

I was, in my view, blessed to be raised in the church and catechized as a little kid.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Meaning, every other special before this, I’ve had jokes about how I don’t want kids, and now I have a kid, and I’m talking about motherhood.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

"That kind of argument really belongs to the past," he says, noting the idea that foreign investors "have to be treated with kid gloves or they run away... no longer has much force".

From BBC • May 6, 2026

That’s a joyful confident kid who wants to jump into life.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 4, 2026

Since I was a little kid, our family has spent every school break lounging on a sandy beach, hiking in a national park, or exploring a foreign city.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Related Words

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