day care

noun

variants or less commonly daycare

ˈdā-ˌker

or day-care

: 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

: 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

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.

If there are times when a dog has to be alone for longer periods, the AKC suggests sending them to a doggy day care, hiring a dog walker or asking a neighbor to drop by. —

Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025 The latter isn’t great, given that a kid with a fever is supposed to stay home from school or day care. —

Daniel Engber, The Atlantic, 3 Jan. 2025 The virus often spreads in spaces including prisons, cruise ships, day care centers, and college dorms where people are living in close proximity. —

Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill, 30 Dec. 2024 Rodriguez has to leave work early to pick up one of the kids from day care, which takes a giant chunk out of the family’s finances, even with Gomez’s discount from work. —

Colby Gordon, Austin American-Statesman, 24 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for day care