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
“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
The pope encouraged women to breast-feed their child if needed in the Sistine Chapel:
From Washington Post ● Jan. 8, 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
Our reporter described the case of a healthy, breast-fed baby with good weight gain, who was struggling to sleep.
From BBC ● May 5, 2026
“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
Fewer than half the babies born in the United States were exclusively breast-fed through their first three months, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2020 Breastfeeding Report Card.
From Reuters ● Jun. 1, 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
The ASA said it understood the weight-loss medication "carried safety warnings for people who were breast-feeding".
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2025
Her son, who was still breast-feeding, fell sick with diarrhea and dehydration.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
“Consistent with regulations, our label states clearly ‘if pregnant or breast-feeding, ask a health professional before use,’ ” Melissa Witt said in an email.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2025
Downstairs, the woman is awake and breast-feeding her baby.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
