day care center
35
1.8
- noun
- /deɪ kɛr ˈsɛntər/
- US
- She chose a local day care center because it has a great reputation for child care.
- day care centers for children
- preschools and day care centers
- schools and day care centers
Examples
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The study was carried out in semi-quiet rooms at the respective day care centers.
Academic text (2012) -
I have to pick up my child from the day-care centre.
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So, you 2 guys are running a day care center?
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I have to pick up my son at the day care center in an hour.
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If it was up to me, I'd open a day care center.
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Well, this is a day care center for single mothers who wanna attend college.
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I used to run a day-care center.
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More working women have meant that more infants are in day care centers.
Academic text (1990) -
Thus, an appropriate indoor environment in daycare centers and homes has become a public focus.
Academic text (2002) -
Would Annie and Tim be better off in a daycare center in Yorba Linda for a year?
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
103
1.2
Care for children during the day while their parents work
91
1.9
Looking after children by someone other than their parents, often for pay
27
2.1
Looking after children by people who are paid
26
1.0
A place where staff look after young children during the day while their parents work
21
1.0
A place where young children are looked after and learn before starting school
1
5.7
A place where babies and young children are cared for during the day
1
2.2
A place where adults look after young children during the day while their parents work
How Formal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a place that provides care during the day' is directly and transparently built from the constituents 'day' (during daytime) + 'care' (supervision/treatment) + 'center' (a place providing a service). This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the parts should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Day care center comes from the simple picture of a safe place where children stay during the day while their parents go to work. The word care shows they are looked after and center shows it is a place to go, so it means 'a place where young children are looked after during the day while their parents are at work'.