kid

[[t]kɪ̱d[/t]]

♦♦

kids, kidding, kidded

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) N-COUNT; N-VOC Young people who are no longer children are sometimes referred to as kids. [INFORMAL]

There were gangs of kids on motorbikes roaming around...

That's a lot for a kid of 22 to cope with.

3) ADJ: ADJ n You can refer to your younger brother as your kid brother and your younger sister as your kid sister. [INFORMAL]

My kid sister woke up and started crying.

4) VERB: usu cont If you are kidding, you are saying something that is not really true, as a joke. [INFORMAL]

I'm not kidding, Frank. There's a cow out there, just standing around...

I'm just kidding...

[V n] Are you sure you're not kidding me?

5) VERB If you kid someone, you tease them.

[V n] He liked to kid Ingrid a lot...

[V n about -ing/n] He used to kid me about being chubby.

6) VERB If people kid themselves, they allow themselves to believe something that is not true because they wish that it was true.

[V pron-refl] We're kidding ourselves, Bill. We're not winning, we're not even doing well...

[V pron-refl that] I could kid myself that you did this for me, but it would be a lie.

Syn:

fool

7) N-COUNT A kid is a young goat.

8) CONVENTION (emphasis) You can say `No kidding' to emphasize that what you are saying is true, or that you mean it. [INFORMAL]

I'm scared. No kidding, really.

9) CONVENTION (feelings) You can say `No kidding?' to show that you are interested or surprised when someone tells you something. [INFORMAL]

`We won.' - `No kidding?'

10) PHRASE: V inflects (feelings) 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. [INFORMAL]

You've got to be kidding! I can't live here!...

`He's a mild inoffensive man isn't he?' - `Oh you've gotta be kidding.'

Syn:

you've got to be joking

11) PHRASE: V inflects 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]

She played the role of a meek, innocent, shy girl. I don't know who she was trying to kid...

`Maybe tomorrow will be better,' I said, hanging up. `Who am I kidding?' I told Wolfe. `Tomorrow will be more of the same.'