Other forms: babysitters
A babysitter is someone who is paid, usually by the hour, to care for another person's children. A dad might hire a babysitter to watch his daughters while he goes to his yoga class.
A babysitter usually spends an evening or an afternoon at someone's house, playing with or caring for kids while their parents are away. While a nanny is more of a full-time, long-term childcare worker, a babysitter works once in a while, for just an evening or an afternoon, and often for several different families. The word babysitter, or baby-sitter, was first used in 1937, and some people use the shortened form, sitter.