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
The picture has improved a bit since then—babies now breast-feed a little longer—but the over-all pattern holds.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 18, 2019
It’s an unusual combination of autobiography, diplomatic history, moral argument and manual on how to breast-feed a child with one hand while talking to Secretary of State John Kerry on a cellphone with the other.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2019
In her latest collection, the author unspools eight tales, including one about a new mother who ensures the safety of her infant by agreeing to breast-feed the devil.
From Washington Post ● May 23, 2019
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
Sam was still being breast-fed, though not as frequently, and his sleep had improved.
From BBC ● May 11, 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
Xofluza can be taken by anyone age 5 or older, but isn’t recommended for pregnant or breast-feeding mothers, or those with a known hypersensitivity to baloxavir marboxil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
Under current labelling rules, any drink, other than tea or coffee, with over 150mg of caffeine per litre requires a warning label saying: "High caffeine content. Not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding women."
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 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.
