childcare

noun

child·​care ˈchī(-ə)ld-ˌker 

variants or child care

: the care of children especially as a service while parents are working

Erratic week-to-week work schedules make it nearly impossible to manage a personal budget or secure childcare.

—David Dayen

Examples of childcare in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Children who are receiving or have received therapy or childcare from Easterseals can take part for free. — Mike Danahey, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026

And so are the major structural problems – cost of living, housing, childcare, wage gaps – that define what this moment feels like. — Rachel Siegel, CNN Money, 7 Aug. 2026

The manual is used not only by the program's centers, but also many unaffiliated private childcare centers across the country. — Sequoia Carrillo, NPR, 6 Aug. 2026

State childcare regulations would permit up to a dozen 2-year-olds to be supervised by one adult. — ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1896, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for childcare

• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• compare
• cookware