childhood
noun
child·hood
ˈchī(-ə)ld-ˌhu̇d 
1
: the state or period of being a child
2
: the early period in the development of something
Examples of childhood in a Sentence
diseases that can occur in childhood
Both men had unhappy childhoods.
Recent Examples on the Web
Later, after the 1978 season, Rose shocked the baseball world by bolting his childhood team to sign a free-agent contract worth $3.2 million for four years with the Philadelphia Phillies.
—
Terence Moore, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
The eerie thing—something that returns to me from my thespian childhood—is that the true reward of the stage isn’t laughter or applause, welcome as those are.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 14 May 2025
Among the sites where Frazier would like to nail one up: the childhood homes of John F. Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor; the playground where hip-hop found its form; a glacial-erratic boulder that barely escaped Robert Moses’s bulldozers; the scene of a murder that led to a 10-year gang truce.
—The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
But Ritter warned that taking extreme positions against any changes in the guardrails could cause a political backlash among his Democratic caucus that wants to spend more money on early childhood programs and public education, among others.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for childhood
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.
Terence Moore, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
The eerie thing—something that returns to me from my thespian childhood—is that the true reward of the stage isn’t laughter or applause, welcome as those are.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 14 May 2025
Among the sites where Frazier would like to nail one up: the childhood homes of John F. Kennedy and Sonia Sotomayor; the playground where hip-hop found its form; a glacial-erratic boulder that barely escaped Robert Moses’s bulldozers; the scene of a murder that led to a 10-year gang truce.
—The Atlantic, 15 May 2025
But Ritter warned that taking extreme positions against any changes in the guardrails could cause a political backlash among his Democratic caucus that wants to spend more money on early childhood programs and public education, among others.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 14 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for childhood
Cite this Entry
“Childhood.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/childhood. Accessed 29 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
childhood
noun
child·hood
ˈchīld-ˌhu̇d
: the state or time of being a child
Medical Definition
childhood
noun
child·hood
ˈchīld-ˌhu̇d
: the state or period of being a child
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share