nursemaid

American  

[nurs-meyd] / ˈnɜrsˌmeɪd /

noun

1. Also called nurserymaid.  a woman or girl employed to care for a child or several children, especially in a household.

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verb (used with object)

1. to act as a nursemaid to; to take care of or look after protectively.

nursemaid British  

/ ˈnɜːsˌmeɪd, ˈnɜːsrɪˌmeɪd /

noun

1. Often shortened to: nurse.  a woman or girl employed to look after someone else's children

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Etymology

Origin of nursemaid

First recorded in 1650–60; nurse + maid

Example Sentences

She’d been working since she was 11 years old, first as a nursemaid during summer breaks, then as a cook for wealthier families.

From Scientific American • Oct. 26, 2023

Gravity, an impatient professor and a sassy nursemaid hinder movers trying to deliver a player piano to an upstairs address.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 11, 2020

In the 1830s, in a young nation eager to connect to the past, Barnum toured with Joice Heth, an enslaved woman who claimed to be 161 years old and the former nursemaid to George Washington.

From Washington Post • Oct. 18, 2019

Byrne played Nursie - the kind but dim-witted nursemaid to Elizabeth I - in the second series of BBC comedy Blackadder in 1986.

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2014

“Well, someone with sense better nursemaid the lot of you young rascals. Put my chair on the wagon, but mind you don’t scratch it.”

From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep