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• dry nurse
  dry nurse

  noun

  a nurse who takes care of but does not breast-feed another's infant.
• dry-nurse
  dry-nurse

  verb (used with object)

  to act as a dry nurse to.

dry nurse

¹ American  

noun

1. a nurse who takes care of but does not breast-feed another's infant.

2. Informal. a person who tutors and guides an inexperienced person at work.

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dry-nurse ² American  

[drahy-nurs] / ˈdraɪˌnɜrs /

verb (used with object)

dry-nursed, dry-nursing

1. to act as a dry nurse to.

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dry nurse British  

noun

1. a nurse who cares for a child without suckling it Compare wet nurse

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verb

1. to care for (a baby or young child) without suckling

Etymology

Origin of dry nurse¹

First recorded in 1590–1600

Origin of dry-nurse²

First recorded in 1575–85

Example Sentences

Tom Crauford had the master’s child to dry nurse: he was only two years old: Tom let him fall, not intentionally, but the poor child was a cripple in consequence of it for life.

From Frank Mildmay Or, the Naval Officer by Marryat, Frederick

Consequently I was the more surprised at the disrespectful superciliousness of their Fidus Achates or dry nurse, who, stretching himself upon his stomach in the prow, did shout counsels of perfection at his receding pupils.

From Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. by Anstey, F.

A dry nurse must be found at once, a nurse competent to take every precaution and give the child every chance.

From Damaged Goods; the great play "Les avaries" by Brieux, novelized with the approval of the author by Brieux, Eugène

Sept. 29th, Margery Stubble of Hownslow, our dry nurse, entred into 54 the yere of her servyce begynning on Michaelmas Day, and is to have £3 her yeres wagis and a gown cloth of russet.

From The Private Diary of Dr. John Dee And the Catalog of His Library of Manuscripts by Dee, John

The regiment, of course, is distributed among the ships, and the Fleet dry nurse 'em.

From Traffics and Discoveries by Kipling, Rudyard

Related Words

• cradle
• feed
• nourish