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babysit

American  
[bey-bee-sit] / ˈbeɪ biˌsɪt /
Or baby-sit

verb (used without object)

babysat, babysitting

  1. to take charge of a child while the parents are temporarily away.

verb (used with object)

babysat, babysitting

  1. to take watchful responsibility for (a child).

    We're looking for someone to babysit the kids in the evening.

  2. to take watchful responsibility for; tend.

    It will be necessary for someone to babysit the machine until it is running properly.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of babysit

First recorded in 1945–50

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.