parents 1 of 2

noun

plural of parent
as in mothers
a person who brings forth and raises a child The couple recently became parents for the first time. She grew up in a single parent household.

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parents

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of parent
as in raises
to bring forth and raise to maturity through care and education They expertly parent their second child using all the lessons learned from raising their first.

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of parents
Noun
Uber is rolling out a live video feature that allows parents and guardians to view their teen’s ride in real time. — Angelique Brenes, PEOPLE, 27 Aug. 2026 Uber is letting parents watch live video of their teens’ rides through drivers’ front-facing phone cameras, expanding its teen accounts program aimed at boosting safety and transparency. — Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026 Her parents divorced shortly before her second birthday, marking the beginning of her long estrangement from her father. — Imani Sumbi, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Aug. 2026 Werner is the son of Mary Boone and Michael Werner and has previously worked at both of his parents’ galleries. — Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 26 Aug. 2026 Police were deployed at the hospital as grieving parents and relatives gathered, some weeping, while others called for accountability and demanded answers about how the fire began and whether the nursery had adequate firefighting equipment. — CBS News, 26 Aug. 2026 And so the world’s least qualified transportation team rolls up to Sheridan’s parents’ mansion in Mark’s beat-up red sedan, completely unprepared for the ride of their lives. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 26 Aug. 2026 Patterson invited the parents of her estranged husband and their two elderly friends to lunch in July 2024. — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026 The chick hatched July 17, a few weeks after the birth of another penguin, the aquarium said, to parents Nipper and Pebbles, also the pair’s second child. — Megan Fahrney, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
Verb
The influence on how each generation parents their children is striking as well. — Sari Hitchins, Parents, 11 June 2026 Looking ahead, the pair plan to relocate to Florida, though Andrew will split his time between the Sunshine State and Baltimore as he co-parents his two daughters. — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 2 Apr. 2026 Fellow plaintiff parents Brandy Roberts and Joann Bogard also snagged seats and joined Rodriguez in the back row of the courtroom to watch Zuckerberg’s testimony. — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2026 Waukesha School District parents Joe Burke and Sean Shurbet have questioned the district's enrollment data, saying the City of Waukesha's data shows current and projected growth that contradicts district data. — Alec Johnson, jsonline.com, 15 Aug. 2025 That seems like an eternity ago to Cane babies born that year and perhaps now parents themselves. — Greg Cote Miami Herald, Arkansas Online, 26 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parents
  1. mothers
  2. raises
  3. moms
  4. nurtures
  5. nurses
  6. fosters
Noun
  • The returning season will see new faces, and the return of the couple’s mothers, Penny Baines and Sarah Wigley, plus Sophie’s sister Georgia Habboo, and Jamie’s best-friend, Oliver Proudlock.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
  • For the mothers Fields, Hobbs, and Howard, the sudden, unexpected death of their children cut deep.
    — Yona Gavino, Miami Herald, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of mothers
Verb
  • For many in Canada, the dispute raises concerns about American interference with Canada’s national identity.
    — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Many workers are watching to see if lawmakers take action to finance raises.
    — Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of raises
Noun
  • Emily Stack is senior director of policy and executive director of Moms for America Action, a national movement of over half a million moms whose mission is to empower moms.
    — Emily Stack, Hartford Courant, 23 Aug. 2026
  • In the film, Jane (Mann), Mel (Fisher), Coco (Buteau) and Sophie (Faris) were inseparable best friends growing up, but as adults, Jane, Coco and Sophie are busy as single moms with stressful jobs and growing kids with activities to get to.
    — Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of moms
Verb
  • Parentheses, turning the inside of a sentence out and the outside in, ask readers to shuttle back and forth, exercising mental agility that nurtures a flexible set of thoughts and feelings.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
  • His son, Lloyd, nurtures Reddmare, and Lloyd’s son, Dwayne, rides Reddmare’s colt, O’Boy.
    — Deborah Johnson, Christian Science Monitor, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of nurtures
Verb
  • Ultimately, Etna’s closest bond is with the itinerant medic Hong who nurses his emaciated, shrapnel-scarred body.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Rachel dates a shoe store operator named Lou (Bob Hoskins), while Charlotte nurses a crush on her handsome young school bus driver and flirts with Catholicism to the chagrin of her Jewish mother.
    — David Faris, TheWeek, 17 July 2026
Definition of nurses
Verb
  • This isn’t because liberal psychology necessarily fosters a love for John Coltrane.
    — Olga Khazan, The Atlantic, 20 Aug. 2026
  • In a community scattered across more than 100 hamlets, the station connects people and fosters dialogue.
    — Adrien Marotte, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of fosters

Browse Nearby Words

parenting
parents
pares
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Cite this Entry

“Parents.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parents. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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