latchkey

• latch key, latch-key

From latch +‎ key.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlæt͡ʃˌki/

latchkey (plural latchkeys)

1. A key, especially to an outside door.

   Synonym: check key

2. Ellipsis of latchkey kid.
3. Ellipsis of latchkey program.
   • 2025, East China School District‎^[1]:

     Latchkey is before and after school childcare for children who are in grades K-5.

   • 2025, Challenger Elementary School‎^[2]:

     Latchkey is a before and after school, school-aged child care program designed to provide quality care and program activities for children in grades K-5.

   • 2025, Columbus City Schools‎^[3]:

     Latchkey is an elementary school-age childcare program that provides care and education for children of working parents. This program is designed to be a link between the home and the school.

   • 2025, Marlington Local Schools‎^[4]:

     There is NO Latchkey on days when the schools are closed, including emergency or snow days. There is no Latchkey in the mornings only on DELAYED start days.

latchkey (not comparable)

1. (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Equipped with a key; generally in the phrase latchkey kid.
2. Pertaining to unsupervised children in afterschool care contexts.
   • 1985, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations for 1986: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, Ninety-ninth Congress, First Session, page 7:

     In fashionable Potomac, for instance, almost 50 percent of the nonparental care was latchkey.

   • 1994, Irene Endicott, Grandparenting by Grace: A Guide Through the Joys and Struggles, →ISBN:

     Be available as a "safety net" for the parents, especially if both parents work and/or the child is latchkey.

   • 1994, Themba Sono, African Family and Marriage Under Stress:

     When coded, it was found that 224 children were latchkey or bordering on latchkey status.

latchkey (third-person singular simple present latchkeys, present participle latchkeying, simple past and past participle latchkeyed)

1. (transitive) To open something by means of a latchkey.