Jump To:

• foster
  foster

  verb (used with object)

  to promote the growth or development of; further; encourage.
• Foster
  Foster

  noun

  Stephen (Collins), 1826–64, U.S. songwriter.

foster

¹ American  

[faw-ster, fos-ter] / ˈfɔ stər, ˈfɒs tər /

verb (used with object)

• fosters,
  present (3rd person singular)
• fostered,
  past participle,  past
• fostering
  present participle

1. to promote the growth or development of; further; encourage.

   to foster new ideas.

   Synonyms:

   instigate, foment, advance, forward, favor

   Antonyms:

   discourage

2. to care for a foster child or a pet as a temporary guardian.

   The couple fostered two boys until they could be reunited with their birth parents.

   Have you ever fostered a kitten that you just couldn’t part from afterwards?

   Synonyms:

   maintain, support, sustain, nourish, nurse

3. to care for or cherish.

4. British. to place (a child) in a foster home.

5. Obsolete. to feed or nourish.

---

Foster ² American  

[faw-ster, fos-ter] / ˈfɔ stər, ˈfɒs tər /

noun

1. Stephen (Collins), 1826–64, U.S. songwriter.

2. William Z(ebulon) 1881–1961, U.S. labor organizer: leader in the Communist Party.

3. a male given name.

---

foster ¹ British  

/ ˈfɒstə /

verb

1. to promote the growth or development of

2. to bring up (a child, etc); rear

3. to cherish (a plan, hope, etc) in one's mind

4. 1. to place (a child) in the care of foster parents

   2. to bring up under fosterage

---

adjective

1. (in combination) indicating relationship through fostering and not through birth

   foster mother

   foster child

2. (in combination) of or involved in the rearing of a child by persons other than his natural or adopted parents

   foster home

Foster ² British  

/ ˈfɒstə /

noun

1. Jodie . born 1962, US film actress and director: her films include Taxi Driver (1976), The Accused (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1990), Little Man Tate (1991; also directed), Nell (1995), and Panic Room (2002)

2. Norman , Baron. born 1935, British architect. His works include the Willis Faber building (1978) in Ipswich, Stansted Airport, Essex (1991), Chek Lap Kok Airport, Hong Kong (1998), the renovation of the Reichstag, Berlin (1999), and City Hall, London (2002)

3. Stephen Collins . 1826–64, US composer of songs such as The Old Folks at Home and Oh Susanna

---

Synonym Usage

See cherish.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• fosterer
  noun
• fostering
  noun
• unfostering
  adjective
• fosteringly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• fostering
  present
• fostered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• foster
  simple
• fosters
  simple
• have fostered
  perfect
• has fostered
  perfect
• am fostering
  progressive
• are fostering
  progressive
• is fostering
  progressive
• have been fostering
  perfect progressive
• has been fostering
  perfect progressive

Past

• fostered
  simple
• had fostered
  perfect
• was fostering
  progressive
• were fostering
  progressive
• had been fostering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will foster
  simple
• will have fostered
  perfect
• will be fostering
  progressive
• will have been fostering
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of foster

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English fōstor “nourishment,” fōstrian “to nourish”; cognate with Old Norse fōstr; akin to food

Explanation

To foster is to nurture something. A teacher could foster creativity by providing crayons to every student. You can also foster a child, which means the child lives in your home for a time. You may have seen photos of a cat taking care of a baby rabbit, or a pig nursing a litter of puppies: those are little foster families. Foster can be a verb (to foster someone or something) or an adjective used to describe a foster family, child, or parent. The word is from the Old English fostrian meaning "to supply with food, nourish, support," which sounds like what those mama hogs were doing. Unlike adopt, foster has a time limit.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foster Foster fosters fostered fostering

"Today's action will help foster additional investment in Syria to promote political and economic stability," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

Children who attend Head Start are more likely to graduate and secure stable employment and less likely to enter foster care.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

In the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to mull over other ways to help foster an appreciation for delayed gratification — in ways you’d be able to see and appreciate while you’re alive.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

Hayden-Johnson, from Torbay, Devon, was jailed and Matthew went into foster care and started a new life in Sheffield.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Danny tried to apologize, but when he went to find his foster parents, he overhead them speaking about him.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

Natalie McDonald, 34, died along with her seven-year-old niece, Valentina Foster, in the blaze in Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, in the early hours of Wednesday.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Foster recently clocked in at 79%; his chief marketing officer hit 98%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Foster said the new work also addresses a theoretical problem that researchers have struggled with for years.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 21, 2026

A snake named after the Hollywood star Jodie Foster has made a full recovery after receiving cancer treatment normally used in humans.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

To drum up excitement, Fitzpatrick and Foster tapped talented men to lead—one to solidify support among Johnny Joyce's cattle butchers, another to organize blacks.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Activists say there weren’t enough fosters for the babies, which need around-the-clock care for weeks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

The British political system "fosters the eccentricity, the wonderment and the humour of politics", he added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

The boot camp fosters an environment where students feel comfortable failing, said Saint Juste, 20, who will attend Kennesaw State University in the fall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

The fourth edition of the summit, which fosters diplomatic interactions between India and countries of the African continent, was set to be held in Delhi from 28-31 May after more than a decade.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

The fosters Coal had been with at the time required that he have some kind of after-school activity because it would be good for him.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

Sepulveda was a foster parent and fostered approximately 90 children over the years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

She puts it down to being bullied because she was fostered by her grandparents and her life was "different to everyone else's".

From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026

Missionaries fostered a “larger view of the world.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

“Not only the long-awaited championship, but the likability of the team has really fostered a new generation of fans,” says Marangi.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

"My lord, you were fostered at Riverrun. I've heard it said that you grew close to the Tullys."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Seven years later, Spohn is less interested in high competitive stakes than she is in fostering an all-inclusive, supportive community for her students at Sportsplay L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Music publications like Stereogum and Pitchfork have switched to a paid supporter model while fostering their communities of indie music obsessives in robust — and, in Pitchfork’s case, brand new — comment sections.

From Salon ● Aug. 23, 2026

They framed the technology as fostering accountability and transparency, confident it would expose widespread misconduct and excessive force.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

This includes the care system, fostering and adoption practices, related institutions such as "baby homes", private nursing homes, and cross-border and international transfers of women and children.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

But as new knowledge accumulated, the printing press instead of fostering scepticism began to make possible a new type of confidence.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton