ba·by / ˈbābē/ • n. (pl. -bies) 1. a very young child, esp. one newly or recently born. ∎  a young or newly born animal. ∎  the youngest member of a family or group: Clara was the baby of the family. ∎  a timid or childish person: “Don't be such a baby!” she said witheringly. ∎  (one's baby) fig. one's particular responsibility, achievement, or concern: “This is your baby, Gerry,” she said, handing him the brief.2. inf. a young woman or a person with whom one is having a romantic relationship (often as a form of address): my baby left me for another guy ∎  a thing regarded with affection or familiarity: this baby can reach speeds of 140 mph.• adj. comparatively small or immature of its kind: a baby grand piano. ∎  (of vegetables) picked before reaching their usual size: baby carrots.• v. (-bies, -bied) [tr.] treat (someone) as a baby; pamper or be overprotective toward: her aunt babied her and fussed over her clothes.DERIVATIVES: ba·by·hood / -ˌhoŏd/ n.

Baby ★★ 2000

John (Carradine) and Lily (Fawcett) Malone are unsuccessful in coping with their grief over the death of their infant son and in helping their 12-year-old daughter, Larkin (Pill), to deal with her own pain. Then a baby girl is abandoned on the Malone doorstep and Lily immediately wants to keep the child—much to the others' dismay. Formulaic weepie based on the novel by Patricia MacLachlan. 93m/C VHS . Farrah Fawcett, Keith Carradine, Jean Stapleton, Alison Pill, Vincent Berry, Ann Dowd; D: Robert Allan Ackerman; W: Kerry Kennedy, Patricia MacLachlan, David Manson; C: Ron Garcia; M: Jeff Danna; Nar: Glenn Close. CABLE

baby a very young child. In figurative use, one's baby is one's particular responsibility or concern.
baby boomer a person born during the temporary marked increase in the birth rate following the Second World War.
left holding the baby left with sole (and unwelcome) responsibility for something.

See also don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

baby, babe XIV. prob. f. redupl. form *baba (cf. ME. baban) similar to MAMA, PAPA.