child's play

2 definitions found

child's play - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Child \Child\ (ch[imac]ld), n.; pl. Children
     (ch[i^]l"dr[e^]n). [AS. cild, pl. cildru; cf. Goth.
     kil[thorn]ei womb, in-kil[thorn][=o] with child.]
     1. A son or a daughter; a male or female descendant, in the
        first degree; the immediate progeny of human parents; --
        in law, legitimate offspring. Used also of animals and
        plants.
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     2. A descendant, however remote; -- used esp. in the plural;
        as, the children of Israel; the children of Edom.
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     3. One who, by character of practice, shows signs of
        relationship to, or of the influence of, another; one
        closely connected with a place, occupation, character,
        etc.; as, a child of God; a child of the devil; a child of
        disobedience; a child of toil; a child of the people.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. A noble youth. See Childe. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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     5. A young person of either sex. esp. one between infancy and
        youth; hence, one who exhibits the characteristics of a
        very young person, as innocence, obedience, trustfulness,
        limited understanding, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              When I was child. I spake as a child, I understood
              as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became
              a man, I put away childish things.    --1. Cor. xii.
                                                    11.
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     6. A female infant. [Obs.]
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              A boy or a child, I wonder?           --Shak.
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     To be with child, to be pregnant.
  
     Child's play, light work; a trifling contest.
        [1913 Webster]

child's play - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  child's play
      n 1: any undertaking that is easy to do; "marketing this product
           will be no picnic" [syn: cinch, breeze, picnic,
           snap, duck soup, child's play, pushover,
           walkover, piece of cake]
      2: activity by children that is guided more by imagination than
         by fixed rules; "Freud believed in the utility of play to a
         small child" [syn: play, child's play]