house-sit

/ˈhaʊsˌsɪt/

verb

To live temporarily in someone else's home, or to attend it regularly, for the purpose of protecting and tending to it in the owner's or tenant's absence.

“I'm house-sitting for my friends while they're on vacation in France.”

Similar
home-sit
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Meanings

verbhouse-sit (third-person singular simple present house-sits, present participle house-sitting, simple past and past participle house-sat or (uncommon) house-sitted)

present singular third person house-sits · participle present house-sitting · participle past house-sat · past house-sat · participle past uncommon house-sitted · past uncommon house-sitted · alternative housesit · alternative house sit

  1. ambitransitiveTo live temporarily in someone else's home, or to attend it regularly, for the purpose of protecting and tending to it in the owner's or tenant's absence.

    I'm house-sitting for my friends while they're on vacation in France.

    1 more example

    I’m house-sitting my uncle’s place in San Rafael for a few months.

    2021, Cherry Radford, The Spanish House, Aria, →ISBN

    Synonyms: home-sit

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo live temporarily in someone else's home, or to attend it regularly, for the purpose of protecting and tending to it in the owner's or tenant's absence.

Similar
home-sit
Also see
home-sit

Origin

From house + sit, formed by analogy to babysit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

house-sit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house-sit

MLA

“house-sit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house-sit. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “house-sit,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house-sit.

Source: house-sit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.