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baby doll

American  
Also babydoll

noun

baby dolls plural
  1. a doll, especially one resembling a human baby.

  2. Also called baby doll nightgown,.  Also called baby doll pajamas.  Often baby dolls. a garment for women or girls consisting of a hip-length top of delicate fabric often decorated with ruffles, ribbons, or lace, with a matching panty, worn for sleeping.

  3. a short dress styled to resemble this.


Usage

What else does baby doll mean? In the literal, a baby doll is just that—a toy baby doll. But it is also a term of endearment for a woman and a style of high-waisted women's dress and nightgown.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of baby doll

First recorded in 1860–65

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.

In the Netflix film, Swan demonstrates with calipers on a life-size, anatomically correct male baby doll in a coffee shop to the nervous titters of the participants.

From Slate • Apr. 16, 2026

Then the punchline: "But I'm immortal now, baby doll."

From BBC • Oct. 3, 2025

Belo connected the actor with a midwife and gave her a weighted baby doll to hold while she did daily activities.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 19, 2024

When Olympia Ohanian — the daughter of the tennis player Serena Williams and the internet entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian — was an infant, her parents got her a plastic baby doll.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2022

The only fat doll I had was a white baby doll that I got from a sidewalk sale.

From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

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