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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The Child and Dependent Care Credit applies to children who are younger than 13 when the day care is provided Expenses associated with sending children to an overnight camp would not qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Credit. Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 3 July 2025 Once the video started making the rounds on social media, parents began sharing their own concerns about the day care. Noe Padilla, IndyStar, 2 July 2025 On July 18, 2022, caregivers at the day care told an investigator that Easter would put the infants to sleep, turn off the lights and shut the door, leaving the room for up to an hour at a time, according to the report. Kansas City Star, 2 July 2025 On July 12, 2017, an 11-month-old boy named Gabriel Cooper collapsed in his high chair at the day care that Sylwia Pawlak-Reynolds operated in South Minneapolis. Jessica Lussenhop, ProPublica, 1 July 2025 See All Example Sentences for day care

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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Day care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/day%20care. Accessed 12 Jul. 2025.

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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