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to babysit

to babysit

118 2.0
To take care of someone else's child, pet, or things for a short time
  • verb
  • /ˈbeɪbiˌsɪt/
translation icon : cuidar
  • He actually volunteered to babysit him.

Oh well, in that case I guess he can't babysit my kids.

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Examples

  • "I had to babysit my little cousins... and I was reading to them all weekend.

    Academic text (2010)
  • So... do you think you could possibly babysit for me, just until Lottie gets here in the morning?

    Fiction book (1998)
  • You still down to babysit tonight?

  • A friend asks you to babysit her daughter for a few hours on a Sunday.

  • Jackson, could you babysit my young friend here for a minute?

  • They begged me to stay home to babysit my one year old infant brother.

  • I agreed to babysit my neighbor's children while she goes to work.

  • Can you babysit for us this weekend while we attend the wedding?

  • Last night, I babysat my friend's kids and we had a lot of fun.

Synonyms

to sit
vsto babysit
89 3.0

To look after other people's children for a short time

also covers animals and possessions, not only children
to baby-sit
vsto babysit
18 2.1

To look after a child or pet while the person in charge is away

is the same meaning but written without a hyphen

How Long

to raise
1.4
to care for
347 1.0
watch
442 4.2
to babysit
118 2.0

Surface Forms

babysit infinitive
babysitting present participle
babysits third person singular
babysat past
babysat past participle

Morphology

babysit = baby + sit (transparent) = baby + sit

Clear compound of 'baby' + 'sit' meaning to look after a baby temporarily; learners can derive the meaning from the parts.

Etymology

The word babysit comes from joining baby and sit; here 'sit' means 'to stay and look after', as in a babysitter. So to babysit is to stay with and take care of children, animals, or things for a short time.