FOUNDLING Synonyms: 45 Similar and Opposite Words

foundling

noun

Definition of foundling next

as in suckling

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of foundling When Heathcliff, a foundling, discovers that Cathy Earnshaw, the daughter of the impoverished Yorkshire lord who’s taken him in, has played a prank on him by putting eggs in his beds to be crushed, the boy plunges his fingers into the slippery puddle of yolk and albumen left behind. —

Alison Willmore, Vulture, 9 Feb. 2026 Cathy might be as uninhibited as Heathcliff when roaming the outdoors, but a woman of her status can’t be allowed to marry a foundling, especially one who now works for her family as a servant. —

David Sims, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2026 The idea for the Innocenti began in medieval times and required more than a century of plans, donations, and negotiations before the arrival of its first trovatello, foundling. —

Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025 There were grim meetings with every male foundling who landed on the streets or showed up at city hospitals. —

Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 3 May 2025 But Mufasa's welcome is no kinder than the reception Dickens doled out to the foundlings scattered throughout his novels. —

Tom Gliatto, People.com, 20 Dec. 2024 Clementine seems a foundling in need of any stable influence, while in her spookily near-complete isolation (there’s no hint of contact with friends or family), Kelly-Anne could use a little basic humanizing. —

Dennis Harvey, Variety, 6 Sep. 2024 The tiny foundling — so small the women could scoop it up by hand — means that there is at least one breeding pair in the area. —

Freda Kreier, New York Times, 24 Oct. 2023 The mission even concludes with Bo bringing back the three dragon babies, in the hopes of perhaps training them to be foundlings as well. —

Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2023

Recent Examples of Synonyms for foundling

Noun

Seafood is the underrated star here—from sautéed squid to amêijoas à bulhão pato—but be sure to try the Segovian suckling pig or the 50‑day aged Mirandesa‑style ribeye, priced by weight.

— Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 26 Jan. 2026
In Spain, the family of King Felipe and Queen Letizia are thought to indulge in a spread including cochinillo (roasted suckling pig), roast lamb, seafood and turrón, a traditional Spanish nougat confection which includes almonds, egg whites, honey and sugar.

— Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 22 Dec. 2025