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to take charge of a child while the parents are temporarily away.
to baby-sit for (a child):
We’ve placed an ad for someone to baby-sit the youngsters in the evening.
to take watchful responsibility for; tend:
It will be necessary for someone to baby-sit the machine until it is running properly.
Contemporary Examples

A babysitter took care of him when the pedophile drug lord was out of town, and Emilio was well fed and clothed.
The Undocumented Cross-Dresser Terry Greene Sterling July 2, 2010

Young beauty Emilie Dequenne plays Jeanne, who works as a babysitter, and later, as an assistant to a Jewish activist.
The Yes List – Victor Garber’s Broadway Role of a Lifetime The Daily Beast January 20, 2010

Let’s say you were dying to see New Moon but you didn’t want to spring for a babysitter, tickets, and overpriced popcorn.
Meet the Movie Theater of the Future Kim Masters November 11, 2009

Last year Berry accused Aubry in court of attacking the babysitter who held Nahla in her arms during a visitation pickup.
Halle Berry’s Custody Fight Gets Physical Allison Samuels November 28, 2012

We have a dog son and we can at least leave him at home all day and not worry about a babysitter.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories Harry Siegel February 26, 2013

I’ll have fun being an aunt, or a parents’ friend, or an occasional babysitter on my friends’ date nights.
Why I Choose to Be Child-Free: Readers Share Their Stories Harry Siegel February 26, 2013

Usually when you lose the husband as the other babysitter, it’s worse.
Suzy Welch Dishes Tina Brown April 15, 2009

You know, actually, he wasn’t the other babysitter because he had a really big career at the time.
Suzy Welch Dishes Tina Brown April 15, 2009

Historical Examples

I changed clothes to a suit from slacks, and went to the house of my babysitter.
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15) The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

It was now after school or this babysitter would not have been there, which brings us to 3:30 perhaps.
Warren Commission (3 of 26): Hearings Vol. III (of 15) The President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy

verb -sits, -sitting, -sat
(intransitive) to act or work as a baby-sitter
n.

also baby-sitter, 1914, from baby (n.) + agent noun from sit (v.). Short form sitter is attested from 1937.

verb

To attend and care for a child, or by extension, for anyone or anything: Which is why she has one of us baby-sitting twenty-four hours a day (1940s+)
To be a guide and companion to someone undergoing a psychedelic drug experience

[1960s+ narcotics; back formation from baby-sitter, ”nursemaid, nanny,” attested before 1940]