kid ( kids plural & 3rd person present) ( kidding present participle) ( kidded past tense & past participle )
1 n-count You can refer to a child as a kid.
INFORMAL They've got three kids..., All the kids in my class could read.
2 adj You can refer to your younger brother as your kid brother and your younger sister as your kid sister.
INFORMAL ADJ n
3 n-count A kid is a young goat.
4 verb If you are kidding, you are saying something that is not really true, as a joke.
INFORMAL usu cont
I'm not kidding, Frank. There's a cow out there, just standing around... V
Are you sure you're not kidding me? V n
5 verb If you kid someone, you tease them.
He liked to kid Ingrid a lot... V n
He used to kid me about being chubby. V n about -ing/n
6 verb If people kidthemselves, they allow themselves to believe something that is not true because they wish that it was true.
We're kidding ourselves, Bill. We're not winning, we're not even doing well... V pron-refl
I could kid myself that you did this for me, but it would be a lie. V pron-refl that
7 You can say `No kidding?' to show that you are interested or surprised when someone tells you something.
no kidding? convention
`We won.'—`No kidding?'
8 You can say `you've got to be kidding' or `you must be kidding' to someone if they have said something that you think is ridiculous or completely untrue.
sb has got to be kidding/sb must be kidding phrase V inflects (feelings)
You've got to be kidding! I can't live here!...
9 You can say `who is she kidding?' or `who is he trying to kid?' if you think it is obvious that someone is not being sincere and does not mean what they say. INFORMAL
who is sb kidding/who is sb trying to kid? phrase V inflects She played the role of a meek, innocent, shy girl. I don't know who she was trying to kid...
If you treat someone or something withkid gloves, or if you give them the kid glove treatment, you are very careful in the way you deal with them. n-plural oft with N
In presidential campaigns, foreign policy is treated with kid gloves...
school kid ( school kids plural ) , schoolkid School kids are schoolchildren.
INFORMAL n-count usu pl
...young school kids in short pants.
whizz-kid ( whizz-kids plural ) , whizzkid, whizz kid If you refer to a young person as a whizz-kid, you mean that they have achieved success at a young age because they are very clever and very good at something, especially making money.
INFORMAL n-count usu with supp
...a financial whizz kid., ...a whizz-kid physics student.