Can I use 'mind' in this sentence?

Question

I came across the following sentence in a textbook:

She'a laid-back girl. She never minds others.

It sounded odd to me. I looked up the meaning of the word "mind" in Longman Dictionary and the dictionary says:

to feel annoyed or upset about something

When talking about a person, the same dictionary gives the following definition:

to take care of a child while their parents are not there

SYN look after

"My sister minds the baby while I’m at yoga"

Which of those definitions is applicable, if any? And does the sentence sound natural as it is?

Answer 1

mind has another verb meaning: “regard as important; feel concern about.”

This sense of being concerned about someone or something is used in expressions like “mind the baby”, “mind your manners”, “mind your elders”, or “mind the gap”. This is related to having someone or something “on your mind.”

To not mind others could mean you she doesn’t consider them or their opinions important. That may be why she doesn’t let them upset her, as in the first definition you cited.

Answer 2

There's nothing wrong with the sentence.

To mind is a little ambiguous between the multiple meanings it has, but the preceding sentence calls the girl in question laid-back. That would fall in line with the first definition more than the second - in other words, the girl in question doesn't allow herself to be bothered or upset by the presence of other people.

In general, when used in negative, to mind usually means to be bothered by. You could, in theory, use it in a different meaning:

?I was busy yesterday, so I didn't mind the baby

but it would be a rather unnatural, non-idiomatic construction that most people would interpret as "I had no problem with/wasn't bothered by the baby" first.