nursery

[nur-suh-ree]

noun

plural

nurseries 

1. a room or place set apart for young children.

2. a nursery school or day nursery.

3. a place where young trees or other plants are raised for transplanting, for sale, or for experimental study.

4. any place in which something is bred, nourished, or fostered.

   The art institute has been the nursery of much great painting.

5. any situation, condition, circumstance, practice, etc., serving to breed or foster something.

   Slums are nurseries for young criminals.

nursery

/ ˈnɜːsrɪ /

noun

1. 1. a room in a house set apart for use by children

   2. ( as modifier )

      nursery wallpaper

2. a place where plants, young trees, etc, are grown commercially

3. an establishment providing residential or day care for babies and very young children; crèche

4. short for nursery school

5. anywhere serving to foster or nourish new ideas, etc

6. Also called: nursery cannon. billiards

   1. a series of cannons with the three balls adjacent to a cushion, esp near a corner pocket

   2. a cannon in such a series

Other Word Forms

• prenursery adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nursery¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, nursery is from the Middle English word norcery. See nurse, -ery

Example Sentences

Last week, many of the baby plants were laid out in rows in plastic containers in the land trust’s open-air nursery.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“It’s how you spend most of your time at a nursery,” Storm said, “schlepping plants around.”

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The parents of a nine-month-old baby who died after choking at nursery say after four years of "unimaginable pain, perseverance and emotional endurance" they are glad to have reached a financial settlement.

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It takes pupils from nursery age up to 18, and has an international campus in Dubai.

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But the earliest nursery space she can find near where she lives in the West Midlands is for September 2026.

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Related Words

• playroom 
• preschool