apartment-sit

English

Etymology

By analogy to babysit.

Verb

apartment-sit (third-person singular simple present apartment-sits, present participle apartment-sitting, simple past and past participle apartment-sat)

1. To live in and take care of someone's apartment while they are away.
   • 1981, Vincent McConnor, The Paris puzzle:

     I'll be able to apartment-sit during the day and dine in a distant province in the evening.

   • 1991, Allene Symons, Jane Parker, Adventures abroad: exploring the travel/retirement option, page 125:

     Lauren and Ben Gruning apartment-sit a friend's condominium in San Francisco every year, and this arrangement provides them with a way to fulfill the requirement to leave Mexico every six months, since they do not have resident status.

   • 2002, Stanislaw Lem, Peace on Earth:

     Since he had a special kind of primrose that demanded constant watering, he asked his cousin to apartment-sit for him.