nurse
Americannoun
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a person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm.
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a woman who has the general care of a child or children; dry nurse.
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a woman employed to suckle an infant; wet nurse.
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any fostering agency or influence.
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Entomology. a worker that attends the young in a colony of social insects.
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Billiards. the act of maintaining the position of billiard balls in preparation for a carom.
verb (used with object)
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to tend or minister to in sickness, infirmity, etc.
- Antonyms:
- neglect
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to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself.
to nurse a cold.
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to look after carefully so as to promote growth, development, etc.; foster; cherish.
to nurse one's meager talents.
- Antonyms:
- neglect
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to treat or handle with adroit care in order to further one's own interests.
to nurse one's nest egg.
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to use, consume, or dispense very slowly or carefully.
He nursed the one drink all evening.
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to keep steadily in mind or memory.
He nursed a grudge against me all the rest of his life.
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to suckle (an infant).
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to feed and tend in infancy.
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to bring up, train, or nurture.
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to clasp or handle carefully or fondly.
to nurse a plate of food on one's lap.
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Billiards. to maintain the position of (billiard balls) for a series of caroms.
verb (used without object)
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to suckle a child, especially one's own.
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(of a child) to suckle.
The child did not nurse after he was three months old.
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to act as nurse; tend the sick or infirm.
noun
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a person who tends the sick, injured, or infirm
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short for nursemaid
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a woman employed to breast-feed another woman's child; wet nurse
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a worker in a colony of social insects that takes care of the larvae
verb
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(also intr) to tend (the sick)
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(also intr) to feed (a baby) at the breast; suckle
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to try to cure (an ailment)
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to clasp carefully or fondly
she nursed the crying child in her arms
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(also intr) (of a baby) to suckle at the breast (of)
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to look after (a child) as one's employment
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to attend to carefully; foster, cherish
he nursed the magazine through its first year
having a very small majority he nursed the constituency diligently
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to harbour; preserve
to nurse a grudge
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billiards to keep (the balls) together for a series of cannons
Usage
What does nurse mean? A nurse is someone who has been formally trained and educated to tend to the sick and infirm, as in The nurse double-checked the dosage of drugs the cancer patient was receiving. Related to this sense, nurse can be used to mean to tend to a person who is sick, infirm, or injured, as in The father nursed his daughter while she was sick with chickenpox. Nurse can also mean to take care of oneself to try to cure something, as in Jonah was nursing a cold last week. Nurse is also used to mean to breast-feed a baby, as in The mother cat nursed her litter of kittens. And nurse can mean to look after something carefully or to cherish something, as in Pat nursed her new company through the recession. Example: My brother went to school to be a nurse and is now working at the local hospital.
Synonym Usage
Nurse, nourish, nurture may be used almost interchangeably to refer to bringing up the young. Nurse, however, suggests attendance and service; nourish emphasizes providing whatever is needful for development; and nurture suggests tenderness and solicitude in training mind and manners.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have nursedperfect
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has nursedperfect 3rd person singular
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are nursingprogressive
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am nursingprogressive 1st person singular
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has been nursingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is nursingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been nursingperfect progressive
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nursingparticiple
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nursessingular 3rd person
Past
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had nursedperfect
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had been nursingperfect progressive
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were nursingprogressive plural
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was nursingprogressive singular
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nursedparticiple
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nursedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of nurse
First recorded before 1350–1400; (noun) Middle English, variant of n(o)urice, norice, from Old French, from Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun use of feminine of Latin nūtrīcius nutritious; (verb) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish ), assimilated to the noun
Explanation
A nurse is a trained healthcare worker who takes care of sick people. To nurse is to take care of, like if you nurse a baby bird back to health. To become a nurse, you have to go to college and study subjects like anatomy and nutrition. Some nurses assist doctors and perform tasks like bathing patients, taking blood samples, or giving medication. When you use the word nurse as a verb, it means "care for," and also "breastfeed a baby." The Latin root, nutrire, means "to nourish." To nurse a drink is to drink it slowly, and to nurse an idea is to mull it over.
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.
A nurse practitioner assisted by diagnostic AI, for instance, can handle cases that once required a physician.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
When she was sleep-deprived, and struggling with postnatal depression with her first child, she paid hundreds of pounds for a sleep consultant and self-described maternity nurse, who had thousands of followers online.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
"As a still developing country we have limited containment capacity... Our public health sector is in shambles," said a nurse in Nairobi, who asked for anonymity.
From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026
Don’t hesitate to be cared for by physician associates like nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
“Wherever he is, I’m sure that he is happy now,” the nurse said.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
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.
