breast-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
-
(of a baby) to nurse.
-
to nurse a baby.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of breast-feed
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
See Examples For:
She plans to breast-feed as long as she can, aiming for a year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
So researchers are left mainly with observational studies, which examine the babies whose mothers have chosen to breast-feed.
From The New Yorker ● May 27, 2019
Pumping is a short-term concern for those who choose to breast-feed, but child care is an ongoing need for all parents on film and TV sets.
From Seattle Times ● May 17, 2019
“We all want to have the same experiences as women,” Maria Clifford, 38, a British transgender mother who has been using a surrogate to breast-feed her child, said on Thursday.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2018
For us, as in America, it’s known to be healthy to breast-feed.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
Mr Mwiti says he had heard accounts of how his infant son was breast-fed only once.
From BBC ● May 1, 2023
“We have stopped all the medicines that we were giving Aya and now she is being breast-fed when she needs,” Maarouf said by telephone from Afrin.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2023
The plant shutdown and subsequent product recall deepened a supply shortage in a nation where less than half of babies are exclusively breast-fed through their first three months, according to federal data from 2020.
From Reuters ● Aug. 27, 2022
Fawcett, meanwhile, was playing for the San Diego Spirit six weeks after giving birth to her third child, whom she breast-fed during halftime of games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2022
This means that the breast-fed human infant is receiving small, but regular additions to the load of toxic chemicals building up in his body.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
Nestlé has weathered controversies before, including a U.S. boycott in the late 1970s tied to marketing baby formula as an alternative to breast-feeding in developing countries.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
Her son, who was still breast-feeding, fell sick with diarrhea and dehydration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
This is why energy drinks containing over 150mg of caffeine, for example, are already required by EU law to carry labels stating: "High caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding women".
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025
Carrie Johnson, wife of former prime minister Boris Johnson, has urged breast-feeding mothers in particular to stay hydrated after she was hospitalised for two nights for severe dehydration.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025
“Why should the child not break a plate? What food is there to eat from it anyway?” the breast-feeding woman asked sourly, still sniffling.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
