Dictionary

child's play en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /ˈt͡ʃaɪldz ˌpleɪ/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From child + -’s + play, originally referring literally to play by a child.

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, uncountable) Something particularly easy or simple.
   • The brawny craftsman finds it no child's play to mould his unpliant rugged masses; neither is guidance of men a dilettantism: what it becomes when treated as a dilettantism, we may see! 1839 (indicated as 1840), Thomas Carlyle, “Laissez-Faire”, in Chartism, London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, pages 52–53:
   • I knew something of the railway engineer's uncanny genius for finding a path through such barriers if any path existed; yet I also knew the path would be no child's play. 1949 January–February, F. G. Roe, “I Saw Three Englands–1”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11:
   • He'd pull his bars apart like bow and bow-string, / And let them go and make them twang until / His hands had worn them smooth as any ox-bow. / And then he'd crow as if he thought that child's play— / The only fun he had. 1914, Robert Frost, “A Servant to Servants”, in North of Boston, London: David Nutt […], →OCLC, page 74:
   • In every county there were elderly gentlemen who had seen service which was no child's play. 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter III, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 322:
   • It's just as quick out of the blocks. The five-car unit has three engines, giving it 2,820hp to play with, so the once-'feared' Devon banks of Hemerdon, Rattery and Dainton are child's play to these trains. 2025 November 12, 'Mystery Shopper', “Is Devon the cream of the crop?”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 48:
   • Compared to my last job, this is child’s play.

Relateds

like taking candy from a baby · easy · easy as pie

Synonyms

kid stuff · piece of cake

Translations (44)

pdt Spälarie (something particularly easy or simple) · is leika sér að (something particularly easy or simple) · sv barnlek (something particularly easy or simple) · is auðveldur (something particularly easy or simple) · cmn 小兒科 /小儿科 (something particularly easy or simple) · ro joacă de copil (something particularly easy or simple) · ru пустяки́ (something particularly easy or simple) · ja お茶の子 (something particularly easy or simple) · ru се́мечки (something particularly easy or simple) · grc παιδιή (something particularly easy or simple) · is innanhandar (something particularly easy or simple) · ja 児戯 (something particularly easy or simple) · nan-hbl 兒戲 /儿戏 (something particularly easy or simple) · sh играрија (something particularly easy or simple) · cmn 如同兒戲 /如同儿戏 (something particularly easy or simple) · nn barnemat (something particularly easy or simple) · de Kinderspiel (something particularly easy or simple) · ja 朝飯前のこと (something particularly easy or simple) · pt brincadeira de criança (something particularly easy or simple) · es juego de niños (something particularly easy or simple) · es una papa (something particularly easy or simple) · pl pikuś (something particularly easy or simple) · hu gyerekjáték (something particularly easy or simple) · eo infana ludo (something particularly easy or simple) · it gioco da ragazzi (something particularly easy or simple) · hi बच्चों का खेल (something particularly easy or simple) · cmn 兒戲 /儿戏 (something particularly easy or simple) · nl kinderspel (something particularly easy or simple) · de Spaziergang (something particularly easy or simple) · fi lastenleikki (something particularly easy or simple) · it gioco da bambini (something particularly easy or simple) · nb barnemat (something particularly easy or simple) · tr çocuk oyuncağı (something particularly easy or simple) · yue 兒戲 /儿戏 (something particularly easy or simple) · cy chwarae bach (something particularly easy or simple) · pl dziecinada (something particularly easy or simple) · es pan comido (something particularly easy or simple) · ur بازِیچَۂ اَطْفَال (something particularly easy or simple) · is barnaleikur (something particularly easy or simple) · is leikur (something particularly easy or simple) · sh igrarija (something particularly easy or simple) · ru игру́шки (something particularly easy or simple) · cmn 很容易的事 (something particularly easy or simple) · fr jeu d'enfant (something particularly easy or simple)