rug rat

noun

Definition of rug ratnext
slang
as in preschooler

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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 rug rat In a bid to increase his nation’s number of rug rats, Władysław Grochowski, owner of one of Poland’s biggest hotel chains, has pledged to throw a party for every couple who conceives while staying at his properties. — Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2025 Your standard maternal protagonist is not dropping a trail of pacifiers behind her, swilling goblets of red wine the minute her rug rats are in bed, and secretly vaping in the linen closet? — Chloe Schama, Vogue, 14 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rug rat
  1. preschooler
  2. minor
  3. adolescent
  4. kindergartner
  5. schoolboy
  6. schoolchild
  7. infant
  8. newborn
Noun
  • Encourage your preschooler to be more mindful by teaching them kid-friendly meditation techniques, including deep breathing exercises, mindfulness activities, and even guided sleep meditations.
    — Heather Gowen Walsh, Parents, 13 Aug. 2026
  • For a preschooler, the cost was $1,121 at a home and $1,271 at a center.
    — Kate Sequeira, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
Definition of preschooler
Noun
  • Police said both the teen and Childers sustained non-life-threatening minor to moderate injuries in the crash.
    — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The Denton County Sheriff’s Office arrested Wood Friday and charged him with solicitation of a minor via computer, according to county records.
    — Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of minor
Noun
  • Getty An island that had spent decades pairing glamour with license was perhaps the wrong place to entrust an adolescent to unusually permissive relatives.
    — Paul Jebara, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 Aug. 2026
  • One adolescent possibly had contact with the bat, officials said.
    — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of adolescent
Noun
  • Noah, a kindergartener at the time, also had to ride the bus with high school students, until an advocate intervened on the family’s behalf.
    — Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Palladino was a kindergartner in Brooklyn when classmates suddenly began being called over the school PA system to go home.
    — Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of kindergartner
Noun
  • One picture shows a schoolboy Rogers at the Hawks’ annual presentation evening, wearing a tie in their red and blue colours.
    — Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2026
  • With the sprightly energy of a schoolboy, Jean-Paul Doron bounds into an empty creek, his red suede shoes scraping pale rocks.
    — Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of schoolboy
Noun
  • Learning to read and write cursive was once a rite of passage for practically every American schoolchild.
    — Washington Post, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Would that every schoolchild could stand on the grassy knoll for a quiet minute, pondering the imponderables.
    — Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 26 May 2026
Definition of schoolchild
Noun
  • The black-and-white illustration showed a mother kneeling on the frothing waves’ surface, staring into the face of her naked infant as the Virgin Mary towered above them both, attended by angels circling her head.
    — Ellen O’Connell Whittet, Literary Hub, 7 Oct. 2026
  • Hartung, who leads the clinic’s home care program, knows a family who skipped going to church for more than month to avoid possible measles exposures to their vulnerable infant.
    — Deidre McPhillips, CNN Money, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of infant
Noun
  • Carter’s is considered North America’s largest and most-enduring apparel company, catering to newborns up to size 14, and one of America’s oldest brands, period.
    — David Moin, Footwear News, 2 Oct. 2026
  • But many also can’t afford the childcare rates for newborns, which tend to be particularly high.
    — Megan Kuykendoll, The Conversation, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of newborn

Browse Nearby Words

ruggedness
rug rat
rug rats
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Cite this Entry

“Rug rat.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rug%20rat. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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