housesit

Or house-sit

[hous-sit]

verb (used without object)

housesat, housesitting 

1. to take care of a house or residence while the owner or occupant is temporarily away, especially by living in it.

Other Word Forms

• house sitter noun
• house-sitter noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of housesit¹

1975–80; house + sit ¹, on the model of babysit

Example Sentences

They will be staying in a home with a sauna, swimming pool and a private woodland, to look after two Yorkshire terriers, booked through the website HouseSit Match.

From BBC

José Múzquiz, a doctoral student in political science and international relations, has begun to housesit to eliminate housing costs, which had created such financial pressures he used food banks to have enough to eat.

From Los Angeles Times

“They waitress, they bartend, they work catering, they drive Uber, they babysit, they dog walk, they housesit. They have all these secondary jobs in order to be able to survive,” she said.

From Seattle Times

That even included celebrity soirees, albeit without their knowledge: A friend of the Disquotays used to housesit for Etta James and they threw ragers at her home when the singer went out of town.

From Los Angeles Times

However, TrustedHousesitters has received complaints from users traveling internationally, including Madolline Gourley, an Australian, who wrote via email that she was deported during a layover in Los Angeles for a housesit in Canada when U.S.

From Los Angeles Times