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.

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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

• baby-sitter noun
• babysitter noun

Etymology

Origin of babysit

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Social media posts show users "raising" their rice cakes, complaining about being at home to babysit, and dubbing them their new pets.

From Barron's • Feb. 5, 2026

I say babysit because the newlyweds will go off on their own and my family would be stuck taking care of my mother-in-law.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 8, 2025

We were so out of control that a lot of older kids’ parents didn’t allow them to babysit us.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 28, 2025

"I used to babysit and take her to school, and pick her up at times when her parents were working. She was very joyful, very funny, very cheeky. She was just a bundle of joy."

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2025

And the Brodie twins, whom she’d only started to babysit, could usually be kept quiet with a tale.

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen