- child
- nounADJECTIVE▪ little, small, young▪
My father died while I was still a small child.
▪ newborn▪ teenage▪We have three teenage children.
▪ preschool, school-aged▪ adult, grown (esp. AmE), grown-up (esp. BrE)▪ good, obedient, well-behaved▪ aggressive, delinquent, difficult, disobedient, fractious, mischievous, naughty, problem, sulky, unruly, wayward, wilful/willful▪He's always been a problem child.
▪The children were quite unruly and ran around the house as if they owned it.
▪ bright, gifted, intelligent, precocious▪a school for gifted children
▪What a precocious child—reading Jane Austen at the age of ten!
▪ dull, slow▪Teaching is particularly difficult when a class contains both slow and bright children.
▪ abandoned, abused, at-risk, maltreated, neglected▪therapy for sexually abused children
▪ disadvantaged, needy, starving, underprivileged▪ spoiled▪ sickly▪ asthmatic, autistic, disabled, dyslexic, hyperactive, etc.▪ special-needs▪ innocent▪ loving▪ only▪It was a little lonely being an only child.
▪ eldest, first-born▪ fatherless, motherless, orphaned▪ adopted▪ bastard (usually figurative), illegitimate▪the bastard child of romantic fiction and horror.
▪ unborn▪the rights of the unborn child
▪ dependent▪tax concessions for families with dependent children
▪ street▪There are a lot of street children in the poorer parts of the city.
▪ biracial (AmE), mixed-race▪ minorityVERB + CHILD▪ have▪How many children do you have?
▪ bear, give birth to, have▪She didn't have her first child until she was nearly forty.
▪ father▪ conceive▪We had trouble conceiving our first child.
▪ expect▪They are expecting a child in June.
▪ adopt, foster▪ lose▪She couldn't imagine the pain of losing a child at birth.
▪ bring up, raise, rear▪He had old-fashioned ideas on how to bring up children.
▪ indulge, pamper, spoil▪You can't spoil a child by giving it all the affection it wants.
▪ love, nurture▪ maltreat, neglect▪ educate, home-school (esp. AmE), teach▪ discipline, punish, scold▪ abandon▪ abduct, kidnap▪ abuse, molest▪ immunize, vaccinateCHILD + VERB▪ be born▪Their first child was born with a rare heart condition.
▪ develop, grow, grow up▪Children grow up so quickly!
▪good food for growing children
▪ cry, scream, whimper, whine▪ misbehaveCHILD + NOUN▪ actor, bride, soldier, star▪ prodigy▪ development▪the emotional connections which ensure healthy child development
▪ custody▪a child custody dispute between divorced parents
▪ support▪After they divorced, he refused to pay child support.
▪ labour/labor▪ prostitution▪ pornography▪ abuse, molestation▪ abuser, killer, molester▪ abduction▪ psychiatrist, psychologist▪ protection, safety, services (AmE), welfarePREPOSITION▪ with child (literary)▪big with child (= pregnant)
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
