day care

noun

variants or less commonly daycare or day-care
1
: supervision of and care for children or physically or mentally disabled adults that is provided during the day by a person or organization
often used before another noun
a day care center
day care workers
day-care facilities
2
: a program, facility, or organization offering day care
a child enrolled in day care

Examples of day care in a Sentence

She left work early to pick up her son from day care.
Recent Examples on the Web Read Next National 5-month-old dies after day care incident, Ohio cops say. Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 Authorities said a mother in Florida has been charged after day care staff found a handgun inside her 2-year-old son’s lunchbox. Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 22 Mar. 2024 Day-care workers often lack basic protections, and day care itself has become too expensive for many families. Jane Thier, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024 The weekly price of day care for a toddler surged 9% in 2023, according to Care.com, a marketplace for child care. Matt Egan, CNN, 2 Mar. 2024 Their relationship deteriorated to the point that Sáenz could no longer eat with Martin, play with him or drop him off at the day care center unless his wife was present. Christina Noriega, NPR, 23 Feb. 2024 Maggie & Rose sold its in-house day care to operator private equity–backed Grandir UK in 2022. Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 20 Feb. 2024 The White House says Spivey and his team have replaced more than 825 toxic lead pipes, primarily at local day care centers. Journal Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2024 In the two major outbreaks this year, measles spread at a children’s hospital and day care facility in Philadelphia and an elementary school in Florida. Aria Bendix, NBC News, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'day care.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of day care was in 1898

Dictionary Entries Near day care

Cite this Entry

“Day care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/day%20care. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

day care

noun
1
: supervision of and care for children or disabled adults that is provided during the day by a person or organization
2
: a program, facility, or organization offering day care
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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