child support

noun

Definition of child support

: payment for the support of the children of divorced or separated parents while the children are minors or as otherwise legally required — compare alimony

Examples of child support in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Even parents longing for a place to smoke away from their children supported the idea. — Los Angeles Times, "Rabbi isn’t happy with first-ever cannabis cafe, approved by West Hollywood," 17 July 2019 He was arrested and jailed again in March for failure to pay his ex-wife child support of $161,000. — Nicole Chavez, CNN, "Judge orders R. Kelly to be held without bond on sex crimes charges," 16 July 2019 Previously, the department had discounted income earmarked for out-of-home child support in calculating welfare eligibility. — Bob Egelko, SFChronicle.com, "California Supreme Court says child support counts toward welfare income limit," 8 July 2019 Wolfe had recently been ordered to pay Fretwell $900 a month in child support payments, according to the station. — Tim Stelloh, NBC News, "Two bodies found in Oregon are missing mom and 3-year-old son," 16 June 2019 Jane isn’t cashing the checks Celeste has been sending her as child support for Ziggy. — Morgan Baila, refinery29.com, "Big Little Lies," 10 June 2019 Driving under suspension, Miles Road An Akron man, 40, was stopped around 12:45 a.m. June 7 after a registration check revealed that his license had been suspended over non-payment of child support. — Thomas Jewell, cleveland.com, "Speeder admits to small amount of marijuana in his boot: Bentleyville Police Blotter," 7 June 2019 There is no talk of potentially seven years worth of unpaid child support; no mention of formalizing any sort of custody arrangement. — Glenn Kenny, New York Times, "Review: In ‘Forever My Girl,’ a Romance Resumes After a Long Break," 19 Jan. 2018 The documents were submitted as part of Spears' ongoing child support case with her ex-husband, Kevin Federline. — Fox News, "Britney Spears' court case reveals how much she made in 2017," 5 Aug. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'child support.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about child support

Dictionary Entries near child support

children of light

children should be seen and not heard

Statistics for child support

Last Updated

22 Jul 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for child support

The first known use of child support was in 1901

See more words from the same year

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for child support

child support

noun

English Language Learners Definition of child support

: money that a former husband or wife must pay regularly to help raise a child

See the full definition for child support in the English Language Learners Dictionary

child support

noun

Legal Definition of child support

: payment made for the support of the children of divorced or separated parents while the children are minors or until they reach an age set by the separation agreement or in a court order — compare alimony

Note: Child support is usually paid by the parent who is without custody. In the case of joint custody, both parents usually pay child support.