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
One of the Minneapolis day care centers featured in Shirley's video is now closed, according to state records.
—
Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
These are recommendations, not mandates, but the schedule is typically used to guide which vaccines states require for day care or public school, as well as which vaccines are covered by insurance.
—Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026
And in its wake, many other right-wing influencers began posting copycat videos of themselves patrolling day cares connected to Somalians in states like Ohio and Washington.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 5 Jan. 2026
Shirley, a native Utahn, filmed a video of himself visiting allegedly fraudulent day cares that went viral online.
—Jenny Goldsberry, The Washington Examiner, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for day care
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
These are recommendations, not mandates, but the schedule is typically used to guide which vaccines states require for day care or public school, as well as which vaccines are covered by insurance.
—Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 6 Jan. 2026
And in its wake, many other right-wing influencers began posting copycat videos of themselves patrolling day cares connected to Somalians in states like Ohio and Washington.
—Kayla Hayempour, NBC news, 5 Jan. 2026
Shirley, a native Utahn, filmed a video of himself visiting allegedly fraudulent day cares that went viral online.
—Jenny Goldsberry, The Washington Examiner, 5 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for day care
Cite this Entry
“Day care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/day%20care. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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