child's play

noun

1. something very easily done.

child's play

noun

1. informal.
   something that is easy to do

Word History and Origins

Origin of child's play¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Idioms and Phrases

Something easily done, a trivial matter. For example, Finding the answer was child's play for Robert , or The fight we had was child's play compared to the one I had with my mother! Originating in the early 1300s as child's game , the idiom was already used in its present form by Chaucer in The Merchant's Tale: “It is no child's play to take a wife.”

Example Sentences

But what she has endured since giving her all in the floor exercise at the Paris Olympics makes the most difficult routine seem like child’s play.

From Los Angeles Times

It’ll be child’s play, she says.

From New York Times

It would be child's play to show that in, let's say, Washington, DC, if you take 50 people who are doing really well, they share some characteristic, and then to infer that that characteristic is the reason for their success.

From Salon

A tunnel that can take billions of years to dig, and makes The Shawshank Redemption look like child's play.

From Science Daily

A favorite cosplay: At last year’s ECCC, Perry dressed up as one of her favorite characters, Chucky from the horror franchise “Child’s Play.”

From Seattle Times