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Asked: 2026-05-28T01:15:07+00:00

I have a dictionary list and I want to access the 2nd child element

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I have a dictionary list and I want to access the 2nd child element without knowing what element it is. For example: 

    <dl>
        <dd>
            <div></div>
            <div></div> (select this item - however can be any html element)
       </dd>
       <dd>
            <div></div>
            <div></div> (select this item - however can be any html element)
       </dd>
       <dd>
            <div></div>
            <div></div> (select this item - however can be any html element)
       </dd>
    </dl>

I tried …

    $('dd').each(function() {
        $(this + ':nth-child(2)').addClass('hover');
    }

I tried this with a series of different number 0-2 trying to find the element. 0 puts the class in all first child html tags. For example:

    <html class="hover">
    <body class="hover">
        <div class="hover">

… etc. Not what I want btw. Leading me to believe that $(this) is actually targeting the window and not my individual dd elements.

Anyway if anyone can shed some light I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    There’s no need for a .each() call – most jQuery functions work happily on lists of elements.

    Just match all .children() of a <dd> that are the 2nd child of their parent, and add the required class:

    $('dd').children(':nth-child(2)').addClass('hover');

    working demo at http://jsfiddle.net/alnitak/TETbE/

    or (thanks to @ChrisPratt) you can combine the selectors:

    $('dd > :nth-child(2)').addClass('hover');
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