child
noun
Laura Simonetti
Did you know?
Is the word kid slang?
Some people worry that kid, when used of a child rather than a juvenile goat, is either slang or too colloquial to merit acceptance in standard English.
The fact is that we have been using kid to refer to a child that is human, rather than goatish, for more than three hundred years now. The Oxford English Dictionary notes that although this word was considered “low slang” when it first began being used, it had entered “familiar speech” by the 19th century.
In contemporary English, kid is neither slang nor improper. It is, however, most definitely informal, so those writing professionally or in a formal register might prefer to use child.
Synonyms
Examples of child in a Sentence
Jessica Seaman, The Denver Post, 9 Nov. 2024
Loading your audio article SAN JOSE — Dozens of parents and their children gathered Thursday evening to protest potential closures in Berryessa Union School District and ask officials to consider alternative solutions for budget constraints.
—Caelyn Pender, The Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2024
But the long hours were taking a toll on his wife, Amy, and their five young children.
—Nick Ferraro, Twin Cities, 7 Nov. 2024
Nodes branch off each other, with parent nodes affecting their children.
—PCMAG, 7 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for child 
Dictionary Entries Near child
Cite this Entry
“Child.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/child. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.
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child
noun
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child
noun
Biographical Definition
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