babysit
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
-
to take watchful responsibility for (a child).
We're looking for someone to babysit the kids in the evening.
-
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
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:
We regularly babysit our granddaughter and love her dearly.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Though her “Spike Cafe” is about a year old, she says she has to “continue to babysit it,” as pigeons aren’t exactly known for their tidiness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2026
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
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
“Lucy and I have things to do. Yow go babysit Fi and Bridget.”
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Yesterday, we babysat our granddaughter while our daughter and her husband went out to lunch to celebrate her birthday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Well, first of all, the version of “Mary Poppins” that babysat millions of us wouldn’t exist.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2025
As a high-schooler in the 1950s, Kay Washburn babysat for 50 hours to afford her $25 dream dress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Once, he babysat for Dreyer’s 3-year old daughter and upon finding out she loved school buses, set out to stop one in the street in order to give her a ride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2025
Sometimes when I babysat I’d sneak looks at the textbooks of white students who lived in those families.
From "Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice" by Phillip Hoose
Third place went to Pogacar's Mexican team-mate Isaac del Toro, who won stage two thanks largely to Pogacar's babysitting pace in the lead-up to the line.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
A word of caution: You have made a substantial tally of everything you have done for your daughter, including babysitting, making 529 contributions and providing generous IVF assistance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
Most employees now spend over six hours a week of their workday babysitting their work chatbots, the survey said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Rachel said all of her friends her age either give their kids money or give them substantial nonfinancial help, like babysitting the grandchildren regularly.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
“I’ll get another job,” he said while babysitting Heidi at home a few days after he quit.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
