nurse
Americannoun
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a person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm.
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a woman who has the general care of a child or children; dry nurse.
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a woman employed to suckle an infant; wet nurse.
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any fostering agency or influence.
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Entomology. a worker that attends the young in a colony of social insects.
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Billiards. the act of maintaining the position of billiard balls in preparation for a carom.
verb (used with object)
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to tend or minister to in sickness, infirmity, etc.
- Antonyms:
- neglect
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to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself.
to nurse a cold.
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to look after carefully so as to promote growth, development, etc.; foster; cherish.
to nurse one's meager talents.
- Antonyms:
- neglect
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to treat or handle with adroit care in order to further one's own interests.
to nurse one's nest egg.
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to use, consume, or dispense very slowly or carefully.
He nursed the one drink all evening.
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to keep steadily in mind or memory.
He nursed a grudge against me all the rest of his life.
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to suckle (an infant).
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to feed and tend in infancy.
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to bring up, train, or nurture.
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to clasp or handle carefully or fondly.
to nurse a plate of food on one's lap.
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Billiards. to maintain the position of (billiard balls) for a series of caroms.
verb (used without object)
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to suckle a child, especially one's own.
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(of a child) to suckle.
The child did not nurse after he was three months old.
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to act as nurse; tend the sick or infirm.
noun
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a person who tends the sick, injured, or infirm
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short for nursemaid
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a woman employed to breast-feed another woman's child; wet nurse
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a worker in a colony of social insects that takes care of the larvae
verb
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(also intr) to tend (the sick)
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(also intr) to feed (a baby) at the breast; suckle
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to try to cure (an ailment)
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to clasp carefully or fondly
she nursed the crying child in her arms
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(also intr) (of a baby) to suckle at the breast (of)
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to look after (a child) as one's employment
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to attend to carefully; foster, cherish
he nursed the magazine through its first year
having a very small majority he nursed the constituency diligently
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to harbour; preserve
to nurse a grudge
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billiards to keep (the balls) together for a series of cannons
Usage
What does nurse mean? A nurse is someone who has been formally trained and educated to tend to the sick and infirm, as in The nurse double-checked the dosage of drugs the cancer patient was receiving. Related to this sense, nurse can be used to mean to tend to a person who is sick, infirm, or injured, as in The father nursed his daughter while she was sick with chickenpox. Nurse can also mean to take care of oneself to try to cure something, as in Jonah was nursing a cold last week. Nurse is also used to mean to breast-feed a baby, as in The mother cat nursed her litter of kittens. And nurse can mean to look after something carefully or to cherish something, as in Pat nursed her new company through the recession. Example: My brother went to school to be a nurse and is now working at the local hospital.
Synonym Usage
Nurse, nourish, nurture may be used almost interchangeably to refer to bringing up the young. Nurse, however, suggests attendance and service; nourish emphasizes providing whatever is needful for development; and nurture suggests tenderness and solicitude in training mind and manners.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nursesimple
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nursessimple
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have nursedperfect
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has nursedperfect
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am nursingprogressive
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are nursingprogressive
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is nursingprogressive
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have been nursingperfect progressive
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has been nursingperfect progressive
Past
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nursedsimple
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had nursedperfect
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was nursingprogressive
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were nursingprogressive
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had been nursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nurse
First recorded before 1350–1400; (noun) Middle English, variant of n(o)urice, norice, from Old French, from Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun use of feminine of Latin nūtrīcius nutritious; (verb) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish ), assimilated to the noun
Explanation
A nurse is a trained healthcare worker who takes care of sick people. To nurse is to take care of, like if you nurse a baby bird back to health. To become a nurse, you have to go to college and study subjects like anatomy and nutrition. Some nurses assist doctors and perform tasks like bathing patients, taking blood samples, or giving medication. When you use the word nurse as a verb, it means "care for," and also "breastfeed a baby." The Latin root, nutrire, means "to nourish." To nurse a drink is to drink it slowly, and to nurse an idea is to mull it over.
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:
Cindy Fuyard, a 45-year-old nurse, fled her home in the village of Le Vaudoue then returned to give firefighter access to the water in her swimming pool.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Strategic Response Partners was made up of towering firefighters, a former U.S. soldier, an expert lockpicker and a nurse from Boston, a team Saavedra calls the Magnificent Seven.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
He hugged a nurse and was clapped by staff on his arrival at the hospital, before talking to some of the young patients.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
The only notable absence was first baseman Freddie Freeman, who remained in Los Angeles to nurse an ankle injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
He’d gotten so skinny that the gym teacher had sent him to the school nurse, who had sent him to the guidance counselor, who had asked why he’d lost so much weight.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
“There are very few people who have seen what I’ve seen, other than the doctors and nurses who went with me. Journalists from the outside world aren’t allowed in,” he said.
From Slate ● Jul. 14, 2026
Equipped with beds, mannequins, a mock laboratory, and protective gear, the simulation centre prepares doctors, nurses, and clinicians for deployments in DRC, or from regional countries at risk from the spreading disease.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
By the same token, medicine was free, but God help you if you didn’t bribe the doctors, while hospital nurses receiving no “gift” might let sick patients suffer in their excrement-soiled sheets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the WellChild nurses, who help to co-ordinate care for children between home and hospital, in a project that Prince Harry helped to fund.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
The nurses and doctors and other hospital workers had to rush on to the next patients, the ones who could still be saved.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Eleanor Nash, community ranger at Forestry England, said beaver kits were nursed for about two to three months.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
Even classical music listeners have their version in what may be the most legendary rivalry of all — the one that also-ran Italian composer Antonio Salieri supposedly nursed with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
He has been carefully nursed back to fitness on a diet of white-ball cricket and played for Sussex in the County Championship last week, taking one wicket in 18 overs.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2025
They don't need to: the pups will happily take turns being nursed from the same mammary gland, and this devoted and well-cared-for mother spends plenty of time with each of her many, many beloved children.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
The woman who had brought me into the world, and nursed me, and advised me, and chastised me, and loved me, didn’t know me.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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
She was eventually placed in a nursing home.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
The Education Department initially classified only 11 fields as professional, leaving out areas including nursing, physical therapy and education.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
Bob was adamant about not being remanded to a nursing home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
When she wasn’t nursing me like a little baby.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
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.
