kid glove
See also: kid-glove
English
Etymology
From kid gloves (made from the skin of a young lamb or goat), a particularly fine, soft material.
Noun
kid glove (plural kid gloves)
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kid, glove.
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter V, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], OCLC 855945:
- As he saw her hands in their old black kid gloves getting the silver out of the worn purse, his heart contracted with pain of love of her.
- 1915, Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out:
- By degrees the room grew perceptibly hotter. The smell of kid gloves mingled with the strong scent of flowers.
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- (figurative, usually in the plural) A metaphorical representation of careful handling.
- to handle with kid gloves
- He's usually very sensitive about this sort of thing; make sure you put on your kid gloves before you see him.
- 2005, Jeffrey John Kripal, Glenn W. Shuck, On the Edge of the Future: Esalen and the Evolution of American Culture, page 154:
- His friend Penny Vieregge provided a glimpse into his actual experience when she described the "incredible fragility" in Dick at the time, "like fine, fine, porcelain. . . . I wanted to put on kid gloves and be there in case the shattering came."
- 2008, Barbie Jones, The Power to Choose - A Victim No More, page 44:
- This time around the enemy took off the kid gloves. He saw that his previous plans to destroy me had failed. Instead of sending boys to do a man's job, he sent a man that he knew would win me over.
- 2009, In The Loop, BBC Films:
- Malcolm: Be gentle with them.
Jamie: Oh, you know me Malc. Kid gloves, but made from real kids.
Derived terms
- handle with kid gloves
- kid-glove
Translations
metaphor for careful handling
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