foster parent

noun

plural foster parents

1

: a person temporarily serving as a parent for a child who has lost or been removed from a parent's care and who is not the person's own biological child

specifically, US : such a person who has been trained and approved by a government or social-service agency

Many foster parents … continue to act selflessly as important way stations for at-risk kids while their biological parents get their lives together.

—Timothy Roche

Foster parents adopt children in Ventura County [California] more often than relatives do.

—Stephanie Hoops

2

a

: a person temporarily caring for an animal (such as one that is injured or awaiting adoption)

The 36-year-old Owosso [Michigan] native became a foster parent to dogs through the shelter five years ago.

—Anamaria Dickerson

b

: an animal caring for an unrelated offspring

Cowbirds deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds, and unknowing foster parents raise baby cowbirds along with their own young.

—The Tuscaloosa (Alabama) News

Tom hoped the little eaglet could be placed into an active nest, adopted and raised by wild foster parents, and could ultimately fly free.

—Massachusetts Wildlife

Examples of foster parent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The 40-year-old woman’s 2014 felony conviction involved drunken driving with her 1-year-old daughter in the back seat — a record that child welfare experts say should have disqualified her as a foster parent. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2026

Jaxon's foster parent was his cousin’s mother, who had a previous conviction of felony child endangerment in 2014, ABC 7 Eyewitness News reported. —Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026

The bill also provides two separate sources for child care funding for foster parents, according to Paris. —Livi Stanford, Hartford Courant, 21 Apr. 2026

Piper has been a foster parent for 10 years with about 100 young people coming through her home. —Libby Smith, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for foster parent

• aberrant
• apparent
• declarant
• grandparent
• stepparent
• transparent
• errant
• semitransparent