breast-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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(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
He expressed outrage over the arrest and particularly the seizure of formula, which had been destined for distribution to mothers, who, because they have HIV or for other reasons, are unable to breast-feed their infants.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 15, 2019
Though families can visit babies in a NICU, and mothers can breast-feed them, the bright, stimulating atmosphere may worsen a baby’s withdrawal symptoms, necessitating more drugs and longer treatment.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2018
Another problem was that I refused to breast-feed.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
Elsewhere in the Instagram Q&A, Paltrow touched on breast-feeding when a fan asked if she had breast-fed her children, Apple Martin, 19, and Moses Martin, 17.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2023
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
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
Currently any drink, other than tea or coffee, with over 150mg requires a label warning of its high caffeine content that says it is not recommended for children or pregnant or breast-feeding women.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
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
Kenvue said it strongly believes that the existing instruction, “if pregnant or breast-feeding, ask a health professional before use,” is the most appropriate warning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 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
She is given a list of pediatricians, and coundess brochures on breast-feeding, and bonding, and immunizing, and samples of baby shampoos and Q-Tips and creams.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
