baby
Americannoun
-
babies
plural
-
an infant or very young child.
-
a newborn or very young animal.
-
the youngest member of a family, group, etc..
I was the baby of the family for ten years, until my twin brothers were born.
-
an adult who behaves like a child; an immature, helpless, or fearful person.
Just swallow the medicine—don't be such a baby!
-
a human fetus.
The baby hasn’t arrived yet, but the nursery is ready.
-
Informal.
-
Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one.
-
a person of whom one is deeply fond; sweetheart.
-
(sometimes initial capital letter) an affectionate or familiar address (sometimes offensive when used to strangers, casual acquaintances, subordinates, etc., especially by a male to a female).
-
a man or boy; fellow.
He's a tough baby to have to deal with.
-
an invention, creation, project, or the like that requires one's special attention or expertise or of which one is especially proud.
His charitable foundation is his baby and it truly shows.
-
an object; thing.
Those big babies can carry a lot of cargo.
-
adjective
verb (used with object)
-
babies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
babied,
past participle, past
-
babying
present participle
-
to treat like a young child; pamper.
She still babies her son although he's nearly 24.
-
to handle or use with special care; treat gently.
noun
-
-
a newborn or recently born child; infant
-
( as modifier )
baby food
-
-
an unborn child; fetus
-
the youngest or smallest of a family or group
-
-
a newborn or recently born animal
-
( as modifier )
baby rabbits
-
-
derogatory an immature person
-
slang a young woman or sweetheart: often used as a term of address expressing affection
-
a project of personal concern
-
to be left with the responsibility
-
to lose the essential element by indiscriminate rejection
adjective
verb
-
to treat with love and attention
-
to treat (someone) like a baby; pamper or overprotect
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
babysimple
-
babiessimple
-
have babiedperfect
-
has babiedperfect
-
am babyingprogressive
-
are babyingprogressive
-
is babyingprogressive
-
have been babyingperfect progressive
-
has been babyingperfect progressive
Past
-
babiedsimple
-
had babiedperfect
-
was babyingprogressive
-
were babyingprogressive
-
had been babyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of baby
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see origin at babe, -y 2
Explanation
A baby is the one wearing diapers and a pacifier in her mouth. That baby is so darn lovable, however, that the word is perhaps overused to describe anyone or anything you feel passionately about. Everybody loves the baby, so much so that you might call your girlfriend 'baby' even though she's 23. If you work in construction, you might call any woman with nice legs baby as she walks past. You also might snidely call your little brother baby when he cries about getting a ball thrown in his face. When your mother has to take him to the ER for stitches after said wounding, you might defensively say "She's just babying him, he's fine."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“When volunteers recovered her body,” he said, “she was still holding her baby, Jana, in her arms.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
They tell me that as a baby, I would not leave the sea.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
You need several weeks off to help an elderly, out-of-state parent recover from a broken hip or, in much better news, you have just had a baby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
She posted a photograph of her young sons holding a baby scan with the caption: "Baby Brooksbank due 2026!"
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Leading me to believe that a little blond-haired baby girl would have mysteriously ended up on the doorstep of an orphanage somewhere.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The trial followed almost 4,000 babies from birth across New Zealand.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 6, 2026
This can also prevent women from accessing help from doctors for their babies, a problem which Quiñonez says is compounded when they're faced by sometimes ill-informed and judgmental health staff.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Head Start serves more than half a million low-income babies, toddlers and preschoolers nationwide.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Twenty-week-old Grayson easily could have become one of the tens of thousands of British babies left unvaccinated against polio.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
His blurry gaze met that of his new babies.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
“You got babied, that’s why you ain’t win,” O’Neal told Barkley.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024
But perhaps most memorable, especially for anyone who has ever babied, basted and otherwise fussed over a 14-pound bird, is the season four episode “Turkey in a Can.”
From Salon ● Nov. 11, 2023
It also doesn’t include fellow all-star Tony Gonsolin because the Los Angeles Dodgers have so babied his development that he doesn’t have a 20-start season yet.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 13, 2022
In bitter January temperatures, that range fell closer to 225 miles, no matter how I babied the throttle or dialed back on cabin temps.
From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2022
Claudia also thought that he was terribly babied and impossibly spoiled.
From "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg
O’Neal objected quickly and loudly, telling Barkley to “stop babying these players.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024
Choosing climate-adapted plants also means you’ll save on your water bill, as well as time spent babying or replacing plants.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2022
But breaking the habit of babying your puppy will prep it for being touched by other people in different situations.
From Fox News ● Mar. 23, 2022
“To me, the baseball players, if they stop babying the pitchers — a lot of those guys they’ve come up hitting all their life and they’re really good players,” Del Rio said with a smile.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 25, 2021
He wanted to tell Finn, Don’t think I’m babying you.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
