Dictionary

kid glove en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From kid gloves (made from the skin of a young lamb or goat), a particularly fine, soft material.

Meanings

1. (figuratively, plural-normally) A metaphorical representation of careful handling.
   • He's usually very sensitive about this sort of thing; make sure you put on your kid gloves before you see him.
   • His friend Penny Vieregge provided a glimpse into his actual experience when she described the "incredible fragility" in Dick at the time, "like fine, fine, porcelain. . . . I wanted to put on kid gloves and be there in case the shattering came." 2005, Jeffrey John Kripal, Glenn W. Shuck, On the Edge of the Future: Esalen and the Evolution of American Culture, page 154:
   • This time around the enemy took off the kid gloves. He saw that his previous plans to destroy me had failed. Instead of sending boys to do a man's job, he sent a man that he knew would win me over. 2008, Barbie Jones, The Power to Choose - A Victim No More, page 44:
   • Malcolm: Be gentle with them. Jamie: Oh, you know me Malc. Kid gloves, but made from real kids. 2009, In The Loop, BBC Films:
   • to handle with kid gloves
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kid, glove.
   • As he saw her hands in their old black kid gloves getting the silver out of the worn purse, his heart contracted with pain of love of her. 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter V, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
   • By degrees the room grew perceptibly hotter. The smell of kid gloves mingled with the strong scent of flowers. 1915, Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, London: Duckworth & Co., […], →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

treat with kid gloves · kid-glove · handle with kid gloves

Translations (4)

de Glacéhandschuh (a metaphor for careful handling) · sv silkesvante (a metaphor for careful handling) · fi silkkihansikkaat (a metaphor for careful handling) · de Samthandschuh (a metaphor for careful handling)