verb (sits, sitting; past and past participle sat /sat/) - 5 [no
object, in combination] live in someone’s house while they are
away and look after their pet or pets:Fenella had been cat-
sitting for meSee also babysit. Old English sittan, of Germanic
origin; related to Dutch zitten, German sitzen, from an Indo-
European root shared by Latin sedere and Greek hezesthai In
sentences such as we were sat there for hours the use of the
past participle sat with the verb ‘to be’ is informal and not
part of standard English. Originally only in dialect, it is now
common in British (though not US) English. Standard English uses
the present participle sitting in similar contexts, as in we
were sitting there for hours.