babysitter

babysitter — noun

1. a person, often a teenager paid by the hour, who comes to a family's house to lo

1.nounB1
Definition

a person, often a teenager paid by the hour, who comes to a family's house to look after the children for a few hours so that the parents can go out.

Example

The Garcias hired a babysitter so they could attend their friend's wedding on Saturday night.

hire a babysitter (so that...)

Linnea works as a babysitter for two neighbours and earns about ten dollars an hour.

work as a babysitter for [family]

Common collocations
  • hire a babysitter
  • reliable babysitter
  • regular babysitter
  • leave the kids with a babysitter
Synonyms
  • sitter

    shortened, conversational form of babysitter

  • childminder

    British English; can mean either an at-home sitter or a registered daycare provider

Grammar Patterns

babysitter for + [child/family]

Usage Note

Subject of the action is usually a teenager or young adult paid by the hour; the job is short-term and ends when the parents return home.

Common Mistakes

I am a babysitter of three children every weekend.
I babysit three children every weekend.
use the verb 'babysit' for the activity; 'babysitter' names the person.
We need a babysitter to our son tonight.
We need a babysitter for our son tonight.
the preposition is 'for', not 'to'.

2. a person who runs a small childcare business from inside their own house, lookin

2.noun
Definition

a person who runs a small childcare business from inside their own house, looking after several other families' children during the day while the parents are at work.

Example

Mrs. Wong is a licensed babysitter and looks after six toddlers in her living room each weekday.

licensed babysitter running home daycare

We drop our daughter off at the babysitter's house at 8 a.m. every weekday morning.

at the babysitter's [house]

Common collocations
  • the babysitter's house
  • drop off at the babysitter
  • licensed babysitter
Synonyms

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: here the children come TO the carer's home and stay during work hours, rather than the carer visiting the family for an evening. Closer in meaning to 'childminder' (UK) or 'home daycare provider' (US).

Common Mistakes

My babysitter comes every morning at eight.
I take my son to the babysitter's every morning at eight.
for sense 2, the children travel to the carer, not the other way around.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe people who look after other people's children, but their working arrangements differ sharply. A babysitter is hired for a few hours, usually in the evening, and is often a teenager paid by the hour. A nanny is a full-time professional employed by one family, often living in their home and treating childcare as a long-term career. A childminder is the British term for someone who looks after several children at their own house during the working day — closer to babysitter sense 2. An au pair is a young foreigner who lives with a host family for a year, helps with the kids, and receives pocket money plus room and board rather than a real salary. So if Anaya needs someone for Saturday night, he wants a babysitter; if he needs someone five days a week, he wants a nanny or a childminder.

babysitter ↗nanny ↗childminderau pair

Common collocations

Nouns

  • babysitter service
  • babysitter agency

Phrases

  • hire a babysitter
  • find a babysitter
  • need a babysitter
  • the babysitter is here

Prepositions

  • babysitter for [person/family]
  • with the babysitter
  • at the babysitter's

Etymology

English (American, 20th century)

Formed in 1930s American English by joining 'baby' with the agent noun 'sitter', from the verb 'sit' used in the older sense of 'keeping watch over'. The verb 'babysit' was actually back-formed from this noun in the 1940s, not the other way around. The image is of someone simply sitting in the house with the child while the parents are out.