latchkey child

latchkey child

A child who is home alone after school or in general because their parents or guardians are at work. I know it makes me sound horrible, but I just don't want Tommy hanging out with those latchkey children from down the road. Being a latchkey child was tough at times, but it taught me the value of self-reliance at an earlier age than most.
See also: child, latchkey
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • latchkey
  • latchkey kid
  • stand the sight of (someone or something)
  • bear the sight of (someone or something)
  • I never!
  • well I never!
  • (well,) I never!
  • sound asleep
  • boom out
  • jangle
References in periodicals archive
So I was a latchkey child; that was also very rare, of course, in those days.