Babysit Meaning
/ˈbeɪ.bi.sɪt/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo watch or tend someone else's child for a period of time, often for money.
verbTo watch or tend a thing or process without normally intervening in it, e.g. as a precaution should an emergency happen.
Sentence Examples
I am supposed to babysit the children tonight.
They asked Kate to babysit their child.
CEFR Practice Quiz
My neighbor asked me to ____ her toddler while she ran to the grocery store.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Can you ____ the children for a few hours this Saturday evening?.
Word Origin & History
Back-formation from babysitter.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Bart eventually gets Laura to babysit while Homer and Marge eat at the Sea Captain’s all-you-can-eat seafood joint, The Frying Dutchman."
— 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
"It was observed by the FBI personnel assigned to “babysit” agent Tricycle that his egregiously excessive spending was causing unwanted attention […]"
— 2016, Christopher Vasey, Nazi Intelligence Operations in Non-Occupied Territories, page 175:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
My neighbor asked me to ____ her toddler while she ran to the grocery store.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Can you ____ the children for a few hours this Saturday evening?.