foster parent

noun

plural foster parents

1

: a person temporarily serving as a parent for a child who has lost or been removed from a parent's care and who is not the person's own biological child

specifically, US : such a person who has been trained and approved by a government or social-service agency

Many foster parents … continue to act selflessly as important way stations for at-risk kids while their biological parents get their lives together.

—Timothy Roche

Foster parents adopt children in Ventura County [California] more often than relatives do.

—Stephanie Hoops

2

a

: a person temporarily caring for an animal (such as one that is injured or awaiting adoption)

The 36-year-old Owosso [Michigan] native became a foster parent to dogs through the shelter five years ago.

—Anamaria Dickerson

b

: an animal caring for an unrelated offspring

Cowbirds deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds, and unknowing foster parents raise baby cowbirds along with their own young.

—The Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News

Tom hoped the little eaglet could be placed into an active nest, adopted and raised by wild foster parents, and could ultimately fly free.

—Massachusetts Wildlife

Examples of foster parent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

These babies and their mom need foster parents or forever homes!!! —Ron Estes, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Mar. 2025

Her mother opted to surrender the baby to foster parents in Nebraska. —Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 27 Feb. 2025

He and his wife have been licensed as foster parents by DCF, and the agency has awarded them one of its Foster Parent of the Year Awards. —Nate Baber, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2025

The bulk of children placed outside their home counties are with foster parents, not with family or family friends, Lesnick said. —Alex Golden, Axios, 20 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for foster parent

• aberrant
• apparent
• declarant
• grandparent
• stepparent
• transparent
• errant
• semitransparent