breast-feed
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
-
(of a baby) to nurse.
-
to nurse a baby.
verb
Other Word Forms
- breast-fed adjective
- breast-feeding noun
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.
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
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
Another problem was that I refused to breast-feed.
From "Facing the Lion" by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton and Herman Viola
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.
