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Definition of baby noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

      

    baby

     noun
    noun
    NAmE//ˈbeɪbi//
     
    (pl. babies)
     
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  1. 1a very young child or animal The baby's crying! a newborn baby My sister's expecting a baby. She had a baby last year. a baby boy/girl baby food/clothes a baby monkey/blackbird Topic CollocationsChildrenhaving a baby/child
    • want (to have) a baby/a child/children/kids
    • start a family
    • conceive/be expecting/be going to have a baby/child
    • miss your period
    • become/get/ be/find out that you are pregnant
    • have a baby/a child/kids/a son/a daughter/twins/a family
    • have a normal/a difficult/an unwanted pregnancy; an easy/a difficult birth/labor
    • be in/go into/induce labor
    • have/suffer/cause a miscarriage
    • give birth to a child/a baby/a daughter/a son/twins
    parenting
    • bring up/raise a child/a family
    • care for/watch a baby/child/kid
    • change a diaper/a baby
    • nurse/feed/breastfeed/bottle-feed a baby
    • be entitled to/go on maternity/paternity leave
    • go back/return to work after maternity leave
    • need/find/get a babysitter/high-quality, affordable childcare/a nanny
    • balance/combine work and childcare/child-rearing/family (life)
    • educate/teach/home-school a child/a kid/children
    • punish/discipline/spoil a child/a kid/children
    • adopt/foster a baby/a child/a kid/children
    • offer a baby for/put a baby up for adoption
    • be placed with/be raised by foster parents
  2. 2(informal) the youngest member of a family or group He's the baby of the family.
  3. 3(disapproving) a person who behaves like a young child and is easily upset Stop crying! Don't be such a baby.
  4. 4(slang) a word used to address someone, especially your wife, husband, or lover, in a way that expresses affection but that can be offensive if used by a man to a woman he does not know
    5. Idioms
    be your/somebody's baby (informal)
     
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    to be a plan or project that someone is responsible for and cares about because they have created it
    be like taking candy from a baby (informal)
     
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    used to emphasize how easy it is to do something I thought it was going to be difficult to get funding for the project, but in the end it was like taking candy from a baby.
    sleep like a log/baby (informal)
     
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    to sleep very well
    throw the baby out with the bathwater (informal)
     
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    to lose something that you want at the same time as you are trying to get rid of something that you do not want
See baby in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: baby

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