baby

/ˈbeɪbi/
/ˈbeɪbi/
IPA guide

Other forms: babies; babied; babying

A baby is the one wearing diapers and a pacifier in her mouth. That baby is so darn lovable, however, that the word is perhaps overused to describe anyone or anything you feel passionately about.

Everybody loves the baby, so much so that you might call your girlfriend 'baby' even though she's 23. If you work in construction, you might call any woman with nice legs baby as she walks past. You also might snidely call your little brother baby when he cries about getting a ball thrown in his face. When your mother has to take him to the ER for stitches after said wounding, you might defensively say "She's just babying him, he's fine."

Definitions of baby
  1. noun
    a very young mammal
    “baby rabbits”
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    type of:
    young mammal
    any immature mammal
  2. noun
    a very young child (birth to 1 year) who has not yet begun to walk or talk
    “the baby began to cry again”
    “she held the baby in her arms”
    “it sounds simple, but when you have your own baby it is all so different”
    synonyms: babe, infant
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    types:
    show 18 types...
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    blue baby
    an infant born with a bluish color; usually has a defective heart
    cherub
    a sweet innocent baby
    abandoned infant, foundling
    a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown
    godchild
    an infant who is sponsored by an adult (the godparent) at baptism
    neonate, newborn, newborn baby, newborn infant
    a baby from birth to four weeks
    nurseling, nursling, suckling
    an infant considered in relation to its nurse
    papoose, pappoose
    an American Indian infant
    test-tube baby
    a baby conceived by fertilization that occurs outside the mother's body; the woman's ova are removed and mixed with sperm in a culture medium - if fertilization occurs the blastocyte is implanted in the woman's uterus
    war baby
    conceived or born during war
    goddaughter
    a female godchild
    godson
    a male godchild
    liveborn infant
    infant who shows signs of life after birth
    low-birth-weight baby, low-birth-weight infant
    an infant born weighing less than 5.5 pounds (2500 grams) regardless of gestational age
    postmature infant
    infant born after 42 weeks of gestation; usually shows signs of placental insufficiency
    preemie, premature baby, premature infant, premie, preterm baby, preterm infant
    an infant that is born prior to 37 weeks of gestation
    SGA infant, small-for-gestational-age infant
    an infant whose size and weight are considerably less than the average for babies of the same age
    stillborn infant
    infant who shows no signs of life after birth
    term infant
    infant born at a gestational age between 37 and 42 completed weeks
    type of:
    child, kid
    a human offspring (son or daughter) of any age
  3. noun
    an unborn child; a human fetus
    “it was great to feel my baby moving about inside”
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    type of:
    fetus, foetus
    an unborn or unhatched vertebrate in the later stages of development showing the main recognizable features of the mature animal
  4. noun
    the youngest member of a group (not necessarily young)
    “the baby of the family”
    “the baby of the Supreme Court”
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    type of:
    issue, offspring, progeny
    the immediate descendants of a person
  5. noun
    an immature childish person
    “stop being a baby!”
    synonyms: child
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    type of:
    individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul
    a human being
  6. noun
    (slang) sometimes used as a term of address for attractive young women
    synonyms: babe, sister
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    type of:
    fille, girl, miss, missy, young lady, young woman
    a young woman
  7. verb
    treat with excessive indulgence
    synonyms: cocker, coddle, cosset, featherbed, indulge, mollycoddle, pamper, spoil
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    type of:
    do by, handle, treat
    interact in a certain way
  8. noun
    a project of personal concern to someone
    “this project is his baby”
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    type of:
    labor, project, task, undertaking
    any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
Pronunciation
US
/ˈbeɪbi/
UK
/ˈbeɪbi/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘baby'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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