child (redirected from childlessness)

be child's play

to be very easy. Using this new computer is child's play.

See also: play

be like a child in a sweetshop (British)

to be very happy and excited about the things around you, and often to react to them in a way which is silly and not controlled. Give him a room full of old books and he's like a child in a sweetshop.

See also: like

be with child (old-fashioned)

to be pregnant. Emily was unable to make the journey, being heavy with child.

the [child/house/mother, etc.] from hell (humorous)

the worst or most unpleasant person or thing of that type that anyone can imagine. His mother's awful. She really is the mother-in-law from hell.

See also: from, hell, house

a latchkey child/kid (mainly American)

a child who is often in the house alone because both parents are at work. My dad came home at seven in the evening and my mom only an hour earlier so I was a latchkey kid.

See also: kid

a love child

a child whose parents are not married to each other. He allegedly has a love child in Australia from an affair with a much younger woman.

See also: love

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with child

pregnant. She went back to her parents' home when she discovered she was with child.

Usage notes: used by people who think it is not polite to say pregnant, or for humorous effect