baby

Universal Words noun, adjective, verb noun (plural babies) 1 a 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 2 (informal) the youngest member of a family or group: He's the baby of the team. 3 (disapproving) a person who behaves like a young child and is easily upset: Stop crying and don't be such a baby. 4 (slang, especially AmE) a word used to address sb, 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 IDIOMS be your / sb's baby (informal) to be a plan or project that sb is responsible for and cares about because they have created it leave sb holding the baby (informal) to suddenly make sb responsible for sth important that is really your responsibility: He changed to another job and we were left holding the baby. throw the baby out with the bathwater (informal) to lose sth that you want at the same time as you are trying to get rid of sth that you do not want moreatSLEEPv. adjective [onlybeforenoun] baby vegetables are a very small version of particular vegetables, or are picked when they are very small: baby carrots verb (babies, babying, babied, babied) [VN] to treat sb with too much care, as if they were a baby