nourish
Americanverb (used with object)
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to sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth.
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to cherish, foster, keep alive, etc..
He had long nourished the dream of living abroad.
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to strengthen, build up, or promote.
to nourish discontent among the workers; to nourish the arts in one's community.
- Antonyms:
- discourage
verb
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to provide with the materials necessary for life and growth
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to support or encourage (an idea, feeling, etc); foster
to nourish resentment
Usage
What does nourish mean? Nourish means to promote healthy growth—to do or provide what’s needed for someone or something to be healthy and to grow and develop. The word is most commonly used in relation to food. Healthy food nourishes us. Parents try to nourish their children by feeding them healthy foods. Sometimes, food is said to nourish more than the body, as in A warm, home-cooked meal nourishes the body and the spirit. However, nourish can be used in many other contexts, including those that don’t involve food, as in Education nourishes our minds. In the context of the growth and development of things, such as communities and relationships, nourish means to build up or promote, as in This grant is intended to nourish the local arts and culture scene. A more common synonym for this sense of the word is nurture. In all of these senses, nourish is a somewhat formal and perhaps poetic word—it usually means something loftier than feed. Less commonly, nourish can mean to cherish, foster, or keep alive, especially something abstract, like hopes or dreams. This isn’t always something positive—you can nourish a grudge, for example. The word nourished is often used as an adjective, including in terms like well nourished, poorly nourished, undernourished, and malnourished. Things that nourish can be described with the adjective nourishing. The noun nourishment can refer to the act of nourishing or to something that nourishes. Example: As a mother, it’s my job to nourish my kids physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Synonym Usage
See nurse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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overnourishverb (used with object)
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well-nourishedadjective
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nourishableadjective
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nourishingadjective
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unnourishableadjective
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self-nourishedadjective
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unnourishedadjective
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nourishinglyadverb
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renourishverb (used with object)
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nourishernoun
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have nourishedperfect
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has nourishedperfect 3rd person singular
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are nourishingprogressive
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have been nourishingperfect progressive
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is nourishingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been nourishingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am nourishingprogressive 1st person singular
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nourishingparticiple
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nourishessingular 3rd person
Past
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had nourishedperfect
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was nourishingprogressive singular
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had been nourishingperfect progressive
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were nourishingprogressive plural
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nourishedsimple
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nourishedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of nourish
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English norisshe, from Old French noriss-, long stem of norir, from Latin nūtrīre “to feed”; see nurse, -ish 2
Explanation
When you nourish your imagination or your body, you give it what it needs to stay healthy and flourish (hey, that rhymes!). Whenever you eat a nutritious meal, you nourish your body. You can also nourish your dreams by allowing yourself to take chances and try what interests you, even if you're not sure what the outcome will be. To transform the verb nourish into an adjective, you can just add ing. Then, you can describe things that nourish you — like protein shakes or good poetry — as nourishing.
Vocabulary lists containing nourish
Motherlode: A Mother's Day Lexicon
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"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Chan School of Public Health and chief executive of Nourish Science, a nonprofit.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 7, 2026
A portion of every ticket sale goes to Nourish LA, a local nonprofit helping families facing food insecurity.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2025
Nourish Community Foodbank, which helps people across Tunbridge Wells, and south Tonbridge, in Kent, said things had reached "crisis point".
From BBC • Sep. 23, 2025
Supporters say the Good Food NY bill aligns with existing state initiatives, including Nourish NY and the 30% New York State Initiative, which incentivize schools to source a portion of their food locally.
From Salon • Dec. 18, 2024
Nourish us with the food of Thy meeting and cause us to attain to the sweetness of beholding Thy beauty, forasmuch as this is the utmost wish, the mightiest gift and the greatest bestowal.
From Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas by `Abdu'l-Bahá
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
