In jQuery, the has() method allow us to reduce the set of matched elements which only contains the specified child. For example:

<ul>
  <li>list item 1</li>
  <li>list item 2
    <ul>
      <li>list item 2-a</li>
      <li>list item 2-b</li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li>list item 3</li>
  <li>list item 4</li>
</ul>

 

// Set background color to red to the li which contains ul
$("li").has("ul").css("background-color", "red");

 

Alternatively, if you want to select the specific li which doesn’t contains ul, try the following:

// Set background color to blueto the li which DOES NOT contain ul
$("li").not(":has(ul)").css("background-color", "blue");

 

Done =)

Reference:

• jQuery API Documentation – .has()
• jQuery Forum – Opposite of has()?