I. kid 1 S1 W2 /kɪd/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Language: Old Norse ; Origin: kith ]
1 . [countable] informal a child:
She’d always loved animals since she was a little kid.
He’s married with three kids.
A neighbor volunteered to keep an eye on the kids (=their children or the children they are responsible for) .
REGISTER
Kid is informal. For formal or written styles use child :
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Research suggests that children from abusive families are likely to repeat violent behaviour.
2 . [countable] informal a young person:
college kids
3 . [countable usually singular] used by adults to address a person who is younger than them:
Hey kid, come here.
4 . kid’s stuff ( also kid stuff American English ) something that is too easy or boring:
Pokémon? Oh boy, that is kid stuff!
5 .
a) [countable] a young goat
b) [uncountable] very soft leather made from the skin of a young goat:
a pair of white kid boots
6 . kid gloves a way of treating someone kindly and carefully because they easily become upset
treat/handle somebody with kid gloves
I want you to treat Hayley with kid gloves today. She’s still upset about her father.
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THESAURUS
▪ child someone who is not yet an adult. You don’t usually use child to talk about babies or teenagers:
Many children are scared of the dark.
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He’s just a child.
▪ kid informal a child. Kid is the usual word to use in everyday spoken English:
We left the kids in the car.
▪ little boy/little girl a young male or female child:
I lived there when I was a little girl.
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Little boys love dinosaurs.
▪ teenager someone between the ages of 13 and 19:
There’s not much for teenagers to do around here.
▪ adolescent a young person who is developing into an adult – used especially when talking about the problems these people have:
He changed from a cheerful child to a confused adolescent.
▪ youth especially disapproving a teenage boy – especially one who is violent and commits crimes:
He was attacked by a gang of youths.
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a youth court
▪ youngster a child or young person – used especially by old people:
You youngsters have got your whole life ahead of you.
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He’s a bright youngster with a good sense of humour.
▪ minor law someone who is not yet legally an adult:
It is illegal to sell alcohol to a minor.
II. kid 2 S2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle kidded , present participle kidding ) informal
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: Probably from ⇨ ↑ kid 1 ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to say something that is not true, especially as a joke SYN joke
just/only kidding
Don’t get mad – I was only kidding.
2 . [transitive] to make jokes or say funny things about someone in a friendly way SYN tease
kid somebody about something
We were kidding Mom about being a grandmother.
kid somebody (that)
My friends kidded me that my gear would fill the car.
3 . no kidding?/are you kidding?/you’re kidding spoken used when you are so surprised by what someone has told you that you do not completely believe them:
Carlotta’s 39? No kidding?
4 . no kidding spoken
a) used to say that you understand and agree with what someone has just said:
‘That girl has some major problems.’ ‘Yeah, no kidding.’
b) used to emphasize a threat or that you are telling the truth:
If you break that thing, you’ll be grounded for a week – no kidding.
And then he saw us and – no kidding – he asked us if we wanted a ride.
5 . [transitive] to let yourself believe something that is untrue or unlikely
kid yourself (that)
Don’t kid yourself he’ll ever change.
We thought we could change the world. Just who were we trying to kid?
6 . I kid you not spoken used to emphasize that you are telling the truth
—kidding noun [uncountable]
kid around phrasal verb
to behave in a silly way:
Stop kidding around and listen.
III. kid 3 BrE AmE adjective
kid sister/brother especially American English informal your kid sister or brother is younger than you are SYN little sister/brother British English