nursemaid

American  

[nurs-meyd] / ˈnɜrsˌmeɪd /

noun

1. Also called nurserymaid. a woman or girl employed to care for a child or several children, especially in a household.

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verb (used with object)

1. to act as a nursemaid to; to take care of or look after protectively.

nursemaid British  

/ ˈnɜːsˌmeɪd /

noun

1. Often shortened to: nurse. a woman or girl employed to look after someone else's children

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Etymology

Origin of nursemaid

First recorded in 1650–60; nurse + maid

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nursemaid

Agnes’ mother never bonded with her daughter and showed her little attention except to object to her daughter’s clear intelligence and closeness with her nursemaid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2025

She’d been working since she was 11 years old, first as a nursemaid during summer breaks, then as a cook for wealthier families.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 26, 2023

In the 1830s, in a young nation eager to connect to the past, Barnum toured with Joice Heth, an enslaved woman who claimed to be 161 years old and the former nursemaid to George Washington.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2019

Byrne played Nursie - the kind but dim-witted nursemaid to Elizabeth I - in the second series of BBC comedy Blackadder in 1986.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2014

Mami was in a good mood, letting the baby go off with the nursemaid, Milagros.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez