nourish
Americanverb (used with object)
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nourishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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nourished,
past participle, past
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nourishing
present participle
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to sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth.
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to cherish, foster, keep alive, etc..
He had long nourished the dream of living abroad.
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to strengthen, build up, or promote.
to nourish discontent among the workers; to nourish the arts in one's community.
- Antonyms:
- discourage
verb
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to provide with the materials necessary for life and growth
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to support or encourage (an idea, feeling, etc); foster
to nourish resentment
Usage
What does nourish mean? Nourish means to promote healthy growth—to do or provide what’s needed for someone or something to be healthy and to grow and develop. The word is most commonly used in relation to food. Healthy food nourishes us. Parents try to nourish their children by feeding them healthy foods. Sometimes, food is said to nourish more than the body, as in A warm, home-cooked meal nourishes the body and the spirit. However, nourish can be used in many other contexts, including those that don’t involve food, as in Education nourishes our minds. In the context of the growth and development of things, such as communities and relationships, nourish means to build up or promote, as in This grant is intended to nourish the local arts and culture scene. A more common synonym for this sense of the word is nurture. In all of these senses, nourish is a somewhat formal and perhaps poetic word—it usually means something loftier than feed. Less commonly, nourish can mean to cherish, foster, or keep alive, especially something abstract, like hopes or dreams. This isn’t always something positive—you can nourish a grudge, for example. The word nourished is often used as an adjective, including in terms like well nourished, poorly nourished, undernourished, and malnourished. Things that nourish can be described with the adjective nourishing. The noun nourishment can refer to the act of nourishing or to something that nourishes. Example: As a mother, it’s my job to nourish my kids physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Synonym Usage
See nurse.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nourishernoun
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overnourishverb (used with object)
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renourishverb (used with object)
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nourishableadjective
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nourishingadjective
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self-nourishedadjective
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unnourishableadjective
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unnourishedadjective
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well-nourishedadjective
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nourishinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nourishsimple
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nourishessimple
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have nourishedperfect
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has nourishedperfect
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am nourishingprogressive
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are nourishingprogressive
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is nourishingprogressive
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have been nourishingperfect progressive
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has been nourishingperfect progressive
Past
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nourishedsimple
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had nourishedperfect
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was nourishingprogressive
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were nourishingprogressive
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had been nourishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nourish
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English norisshe, from Old French noriss-, long stem of norir, from Latin nūtrīre “to feed”; see nurse, -ish 2
Explanation
When you nourish your imagination or your body, you give it what it needs to stay healthy and flourish (hey, that rhymes!). Whenever you eat a nutritious meal, you nourish your body. You can also nourish your dreams by allowing yourself to take chances and try what interests you, even if you're not sure what the outcome will be. To transform the verb nourish into an adjective, you can just add ing. Then, you can describe things that nourish you — like protein shakes or good poetry — as nourishing.
Vocabulary lists containing nourish
Motherlode: A Mother's Day Lexicon
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Mother's Day Words: What Mothers Do
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The ranchers depend on snowmelt that feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries to nourish grasses and hay pastures for their herds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
Foreign Minister Robert Dussey of Togo, which sponsored the resolution, said maps "guide education, nourish the imagination, and influence collective perceptions."
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
Food that could nourish communities never makes it to the people who need it most.
From Salon ● Apr. 11, 2026
That has been exacerbated, she said, by homeowners’ failure to comply with terms of the original permit, which required them to provide sand to cover the geotubes—sand that would naturally erode and nourish other beaches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
“I think this will nourish me,” he said.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
A rich stew of influences nourishes his work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Ammonium not only helps these bacteria thrive but also nourishes algae and, by extension, the creatures that depend on them.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2025
But it can remind artists that if “Moon” matters, so still must a Kennedy Center that nourishes and produces such work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025
A free press that deals in facts and promotes diverse viewpoints is the water that nourishes a healthy democracy.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2025
I like singing to the kalo, and I like that I understand how the land nourishes me.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
"It's enriched and nourished my life and my sense of my national identity so much to find out more and more about this," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
It’s also her first album in more than a decade, one that maintains the neo-soul continuum she’s nourished since her multi-platinum 2000 debut, “Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol. 1.”
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
“You can travel and be nourished instead of tired at the end.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026
People in your life should make you feel safe, nourished and valued.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026
To his eye, the people of the Carolinas, cultural cousins to the Wampanoag, were in superb health, especially compared to poorly nourished, smallpox-scarred Europeans.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Some of the products that flow through Malé to Moscow are designated under sanctions as dual-use, meaning they could be used for military or civilian purposes, such as nourishing the country’s sanctioned airline industry.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
"It's cliché but kind of creating and nourishing new life and new growth is just really the circle of life."
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026
On top of that, the cultural obsession with efficiency doesn’t align with a diet that views cooking as a nourishing daily ritual.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 16, 2026
Glial cells play essential supporting and nourishing roles in the brain.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
Rachel worried that her daughter did not gain, and fussed over the fire concocting nourishing stews which Mercy obediently tried to swallow.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
