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
Police also did not identify the business, but, according to Google Maps, a residential day care business called CJ's Child Care operates on that block.
—
Jim Riccioli, Journal Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2024
Police said this was a domestic incident, and the roughly 70 children who were in the day care were not injured.
—Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Email address: Child concluded that her child care license could soon be useless and decided her day care will close at the end of the month.
—Nicole Santa Cruz, ProPublica, 19 Mar. 2024
Read Next National 5-month-old dies after day care incident, Ohio cops say.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
Authorities said a mother in Florida has been charged after day care staff found a handgun inside her 2-year-old son’s lunchbox.
—Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 22 Mar. 2024
Day-care workers often lack basic protections, and day care itself has become too expensive for many families.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024
The weekly price of day care for a toddler surged 9% in 2023, according to Care.com, a marketplace for child care.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 2 Mar. 2024
Their relationship deteriorated to the point that Sáenz could no longer eat with Martin, play with him or drop him off at the day care center unless his wife was present.
—Christina Noriega, NPR, 23 Feb. 2024
Jim Riccioli, Journal Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2024
Police said this was a domestic incident, and the roughly 70 children who were in the day care were not injured.
—Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Email address: Child concluded that her child care license could soon be useless and decided her day care will close at the end of the month.
—Nicole Santa Cruz, ProPublica, 19 Mar. 2024
Read Next National 5-month-old dies after day care incident, Ohio cops say.
—Lauren Liebhaber, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024
Authorities said a mother in Florida has been charged after day care staff found a handgun inside her 2-year-old son’s lunchbox.
—Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 22 Mar. 2024
Day-care workers often lack basic protections, and day care itself has become too expensive for many families.
—Jane Thier, Fortune, 19 Mar. 2024
The weekly price of day care for a toddler surged 9% in 2023, according to Care.com, a marketplace for child care.
—Matt Egan, CNN, 2 Mar. 2024
Their relationship deteriorated to the point that Sáenz could no longer eat with Martin, play with him or drop him off at the day care center unless his wife was present.
—Christina Noriega, NPR, 23 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'day care.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1898, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near day care
Cite this Entry
“Day care.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/day%20care. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
day care
noun1
: supervision of and care for children or disabled adults that is provided during the day by a person or organization
2
: a program, facility, or organization offering day care
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