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Webster 1913 Edition

Baby

Ba′by

(bā′by̆)
,
Noun.
;
pl.
Babies
(-bĭz)
.
[Dim. of
babe
.]
An infant or young child of either sex; a babe.
2.
A small image of an infant; a doll.
Babies in the eyes
,
the minute reflection which one sees of one’s self in the eyes of another.
She clung about his neck, gave him ten kisses,
Toyed with his locks, looked
babies in his eyes
.
Heywood.

Ba′by

,
Adj.
Pertaining to, or resembling, an infant; young or little;
as,
baby
swans
.
“Baby figure”
Shak.

Ba′by

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Babied
(bā′bēd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Babying
.]
To treat like a young child; to keep dependent; to humor; to fondle.
Young.

Webster 1828 Edition

Baby

BA'BY

,
Adj.
Like a young child; pertaining to an infant.

BA'BY

,
Noun.
[See Babe.] An infant or young child of either sex; a babe; [used in familiar language.]
2.
A small image in form of an infant, for girls to play with; a doll.

BA'BY

,
Verb.
T.
To treat like a young child.

Definition 2024

Baby

Baby

See also: baby

German

Noun

Baby n ‎(genitive Babys, plural Babys)

  1. baby (infant)

Declension

Synonyms

Derived terms

baby

baby

See also: Baby

English

A human baby.
A baby monkey.
A baby elephant (sometimes called a calf).

Noun

baby ‎(plural babies)

  1. A very young human, particularly from birth to a couple of years old or until walking is fully mastered.
  2. Any very young animal, especially a vertebrate; many species have specific names for their babies, such as kittens for the babies of cats, puppies for the babies of dogs, and chicks for the babies of birds. See Category:Baby animals for more.
  3. Unborn young; a fetus.
    When is your baby due?
  4. A person who is immature or infantile.
    Stand up for yourself - don't be such a baby!
  5. Term of endearment for a girlfriend or boyfriend or spouse.
  6. (informal) A form of address to a man or a woman considered to be attractive.
    Hey baby, what are you doing later?
  7. A pet project or responsibility.
    • 1996, Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy, Folio Society 2015, p. 902:
      Sovnarkom was Lenin's baby, it was where he focused all his energies […].
  8. The lastborn of a family.
  9. An affectionate term for anything.
    See my new car here? I can't wait to take this baby for a drive.
  10. (archaic) A small image of an infant; a doll.

Synonyms

See also

Translations

Adjective

baby ‎(not comparable) (used only before the noun)

  1. Of a child: very young; of the age when he or she would be termed a baby or infant.
    a baby boy
  2. Of an animal: young.
    a baby elephant
  3. Intended for babies.
    baby clothes
  4. (of vegetables, etc.) Picked when small and immature (as in baby corn, baby potatoes).

Usage notes

When referring to a human baby (as per noun sense 1 above) the usual practice is to treat 'human' as the adjective and 'baby' as the noun.

Synonyms

  • (very young, of a child): little
  • (intended for babies): baby's, babies'

Translations

Verb

baby ‎(third-person singular simple present babies, present participle babying, simple past and past participle babied)

  1. (transitive) To coddle; to pamper somebody like an infant.
    • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt, Chapter ,
      […] though he tried to be gruff and mature, he yielded to her and was glad to be babied.
    • 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, "Friction,"
      Then the man effected measles and stayed off the job for six weeks, babying himself at home, though he lived just round the corner from my half-built house.
  2. (transitive) To tend (something) with care; to be overly attentive to (something), fuss over.
    • 1967, "Mr. Mac and His Team," Time, 31 March, 1967,
      In the past 27 years, "Mr. Mac," as he is known to his 46,000 teammates, has built and babied his McDonnell Co. from nothing into a $1 billion-a-year corporation.
    • 1912, Linda Craig, interviewed by Theresa Forte, "Tree and Twig farm — a treasure chest of heirloom tomatoes," Welland Tribune, 25 May, 2012,
      I have grown them for years and although some years are better than others, I have always had loads of tomatoes by not babying them, going easy on the water, and fertilizing with compost in the planting hole.

Derived terms

Look at pages starting with baby.

Related terms

See also

Anagrams

Danish

Etymology

Borrowing from English baby.

Noun

baby c (singular definite babyen, plural indefinite babyer)

  1. A baby, an infant.
  2. (slang) An attractive young female.

Inflection

Synonyms

Derived terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbeːbi/

Etymology

From English baby.

Noun

baby m ‎(plural baby's, diminutive baby'tje n)

  1. baby (infant)

Finnish

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: ba‧by
  • IPA(key): /ˈbei̯bi/
  • (rare) IPA(key): /ˈbɑby/

Alternative forms

Noun

baby

  1. baby (term of endearment)
  2. baby (very young human)

Declension

This spelling should preferably be used in nominative only as it does not fit into any standard inflection scheme.

Inflection of baby (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative baby babyt
genitive babyn babyjen
partitive babyä babyjä
illative babyyn babyihin
singular plural
nominative baby babyt
accusative nom. baby babyt
gen. babyn
genitive babyn babyjen
partitive babyä babyjä
inessive babyssä babyissä
elative babystä babyistä
illative babyyn babyihin
adessive babyllä babyillä
ablative babyltä babyiltä
allative babylle babyille
essive babynä babyinä
translative babyksi babyiksi
instructive — babyin
abessive babyttä babyittä
comitative — babyineen

Synonyms

  • (very young human) vauva
  • (term of endearment) kulta

French

Etymology

From English

Noun

baby m ‎(plural babys)

  1. table soccer, table football
  2. baby, darling, sweetheart

Italian

Noun

baby m ‎(invariable)

  1. child, baby, neonate
  2. a small shot of whisky
  3. tripod for a film camera

Adjective

baby ‎(invariant)

  1. For use by young children
  2. Very young

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbabɨ]

Noun

baby

  1. genitive singular of baba
  2. nominative plural of baba
  3. accusative plural of baba

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From English baby

Noun

baby m ‎(definite singular babyen, indefinite plural babyer, definite plural babyene)

  1. a baby

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From English baby

Noun

baby m ‎(definite singular babyen, indefinite plural babyar, definite plural babyane)

  1. a baby

Synonyms

Derived terms

References

Spanish

Noun

baby m ‎(plural babys)

  1. baby

Etymology

Borrowing from English baby.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈbeːbi]

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