foundlingnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈfaʊnd.lɪŋ/us/ˈfaʊnd.lɪŋ/old-fashioneda young child who is left by its parents and then found and cared for by someone else
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Parents & children
- babyhood
- bastard
- child abuse
- child-friendly
- conjoined twins
- illegitimate
- latchkey kid
- legitimate
- love child
- motherhood
- motherless
- natural
- patter
- quad
- quadruplet
- quintuplet
- sextuplet
- Siamese twins
- twin
- without issue idiom
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Examples from literature
- Besides, deformed and ailing children were cared for and homes for foundlings were established.
- I am only a foundling who fell into kind hands.
- I have a strong fatherly instinct and all the foundlings are foisted on me.
- I was a foundling.
- Then you do not think of putting her in a foundling hospital or a workhouse, nephew, as you proposed last night? said Mrs. Margaret, with a smile.