Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - child

~ n plural children 1 »YOUNG PERSON« a young person from the time they are born until they are aged 14 or 15  (We've always competed, ever since we were children. | Can you sell me a bike suitable for a seven-year-old child? | as a child (=when you were a child))  (As a child I remember Grandma singing me to sleep. | a child killer/victim/prostitute etc (=a child who is a killer etc)) 2 »SON/DAUGHTER« a son or daughter of any age  (How many children did Victoria have? | We'll come if we can find a babysitter for the children. | Is this her first child? (=is this her first pregnancy?) | have a child (=give birth) | an only child (=someone with no brothers or sisters)) 3 »SB INFLUENCED BY« AN IDEA someone who is very strongly influenced by the ideas and attitudes of a particular person or period of history  (Thatcher's children are finding that the world has moved on.) + of  (a real child of the sixties) 4 »SB WHO IS LIKE A CHILD« someone who is not very experienced in doing something, or who behaves like a child  (Richard's such a child - he can't even do his own washing and cooking.) 5 children should be seen and not heard an expression meaning that children should be quiet and not talk, used when you disapprove of the way the children are behaving 6 be with child old use to be pregnant 7 be heavy/great with child old use to be nearly ready to give birth  (- see also child's play)  ( USAGE NOTE: CHILD WORD CHOICE child, baby, infant, toddler, teenager, adolescent, youth, young people, kid A very young child is a baby or more formally an infant Many infants have died in the refugee camps . A child who has just learned to walk is a toddler. Young people aged 13 to 19 are teenagers and a younger teenager may also be called an adolescent, but this word is rather formal, and may show a negative attitude a group of giggly adolescent girls The word youth is often used for an older male teenager (15+) in official reports about crimes or bad behaviour The police are seeking two youths who raped a teenage girl. In official names youth includes both sexes a youth club/group/scheme/worker/centre/hostel . Often the phrase young people is used for this age group in everyday English a disco full of young people dancing Kid is informal and used both for child (up to around 14) The kids are playing in the yard, and for young people We met a group of college kids. GRAMMAR Remember the plural of child is children, never childs or childrens . But in the possessive form you say this child's education|these children's education )