baby
Americannoun
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babies
plural
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an infant or very young child.
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a newborn or very young animal.
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the youngest member of a family, group, etc..
I was the baby of the family for ten years, until my twin brothers were born.
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an adult who behaves like a child; an immature, helpless, or fearful person.
Just swallow the medicine—don't be such a baby!
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a human fetus.
The baby hasn’t arrived yet, but the nursery is ready.
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Informal.
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Sometimes Disparaging and Offensive. a girl or woman, especially an attractive one.
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a person of whom one is deeply fond; sweetheart.
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(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).
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a man or boy; fellow.
He's a tough baby to have to deal with.
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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.
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an object; thing.
Those big babies can carry a lot of cargo.
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adjective
verb (used with object)
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babies,
present (3rd person singular)
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babied,
past participle, past
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babying
present participle
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to treat like a young child; pamper.
She still babies her son although he's nearly 24.
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to handle or use with special care; treat gently.
noun
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a newborn or recently born child; infant
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( as modifier )
baby food
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an unborn child; fetus
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the youngest or smallest of a family or group
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a newborn or recently born animal
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( as modifier )
baby rabbits
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derogatory an immature person
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slang a young woman or sweetheart: often used as a term of address expressing affection
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a project of personal concern
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to be left with the responsibility
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to lose the essential element by indiscriminate rejection
adjective
verb
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to treat with love and attention
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to treat (someone) like a baby; pamper or overprotect
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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babysimple
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babiessimple
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have babiedperfect
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has babiedperfect
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am babyingprogressive
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are babyingprogressive
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is babyingprogressive
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have been babyingperfect progressive
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has been babyingperfect progressive
Past
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babiedsimple
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had babiedperfect
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was babyingprogressive
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were babyingprogressive
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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:
But I’ve also come to understand that millennials prefer to be more freewheeling, less regimented and “corporate,” than baby boomers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
During a search of the home last week, police also found the cremated remains of another surrogate child that had been mailed to the house; the baby died shortly after birth in Florida, Teymouri said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
Discovery, roping in a multibillion-dollar corpus of film-and-TV studios, streaming services, newsrooms, movie theaters, and book imprints under the aegis of one man, nepo baby David Ellison.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
"She has four children, the youngest of which is a baby of a year old," said Ní Chuilín.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
“Did she think I was gonna stomp around like a baby if I got there and people were leaving?” he asked, shaking his head.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Men can contribute to babies well into their 80s—yes, sperm quality declines but not that much—while the ability to get pregnant is pretty much capped at age 45.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
That would mean each vial somehow vaccinated 2.4 babies, which Yi said would be medically and practically impossible nationwide.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The review found that 201 babies and nine mothers might have survived with better care.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Families don’t need to be convinced to have babies — they need to be able to afford them,” Rowe-Finkbeiner said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
The babies were inside with their ma and the oldest girl, Maggie, but the rest of them hung all over Jeb, as usual.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
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
I babied those potatoes so they would not brown.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 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
He and his collaborator, marine biologist Greg Rouse of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, babied the sensitive creatures, which require a constant supply of fresh seawater laden with the microbes they eat.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 27, 2021
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
“Committing to throwing it, not really babying it. Not trying to shape it, just throwing it, and trusting how its going to come out.”
From Washington Times ● Jun. 17, 2023
Her boss, off camera, says she is tired of babying Ms. Garcia.
From New York Times ● Mar. 9, 2023
There was no babying of their baby brother — and no extra protection from parents, either.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2022
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
Blake held up a piece of the bread and asked his mother, “Why are you babying her?”
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
