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• 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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

Pakistani officials served as an intermediary between the Iranian and U.S. teams, passing messages between them that helped to foster subsequent talks in Islamabad that ultimately made no impact.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Klopp also said it was more important that the country had enough doctors and caregivers but said football can "foster a sense of community, so that people can truly feel the power of sport".

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

Its goal was to foster ties between the U.S. and Greenland.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

"Both sides should... work hand-in-hand to promote high-quality major financial cooperation, advocate an equal and sustainable global order, and foster an economic globalisation that is open and inclusive," Xi said.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

One thing that hasn’t changed is Boo still meets with Heidi and I still meet with Este, because technically we’re in foster care at Ray’s.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

“I’m quite sympathetic to migration, especially with asylum seekers and what they’re fleeing,” said Charlotte Foster, 34, who works for the National Health Service and recently bought a house in Piddington.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

Sam's reunion comes after Foster Wales launched a pilot across 37 schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot in May, with the aim of connecting local authority fostering services directly with schools.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

"I love Kobbie," Foster wrote on his Threads account.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

His contract presented fewer hurdles making a quick change when Foster struggled with the demands of the job.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026

“Let me. I found her first, didn’t I, Winnie Foster? Listen, I’ll show you where the frogs are, and .. “Hush,” Tuck interrupted.

From "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbit

“It’s important for fosters to get involved so that we have somewhere to keep the cats until they get adopted,” said Mibbby Butler, the adoption coordinator at the no-kill shelter Kitten Rescue Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Along with giving tweens and teens something to look forward to, recess encourages movement, builds social confidence, and fosters a sense of community, which are all vital to healthy development.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026

The back-and-forth fosters confusion but also distrust, she said: "It further perpetuates the myth of like, the sketchy abortion doctor in the back alley."

From Barron's ● May 10, 2026

"You really rely on each other and in a sense that fosters a lot of goodwill and it makes us quite close."

From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026

Mark and Linda were good people, had been his fosters for almost two years, and Joaquin liked them.

From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway

These sanitized accounts ignored the homemade dangers, such as the health problems fostered by an overstretched military — realities many children would face when a changed parent finally came home.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

In the first decades of Soviet communism, Russian Orthodoxy gave a great witness of martyrdom, even as its exiled thinkers enriched Christian theology and fostered ecumenical dialogue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 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

Benjamin Franklin fostered the silk industry in Pennsylvania before the American Revolution.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

There’s an inevitable truth about fostering: it comes to an end.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Sam's reunion comes after Foster Wales launched a pilot across 37 schools in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot in May, with the aim of connecting local authority fostering services directly with schools.

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

Many advocates and researchers believe recess helps relieve the stress young people face while also fostering learning, creativity, resilience, leadership, and conflict-resolution skills.

From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2026

"One of the things that she was so good at was creating community and fostering collaborations, and this is yet another way she continues to give us those gifts, even after her passing."

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

"He was planning to send the boy to Dragonstone for fostering, you know . . . oh, but I'm speaking out of turn."

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin