nurse

[ nurs ]

/ nɜrs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nurse ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm.Compare nurse-midwife, nurse-practitioner, physician's assistant, practical nurse, registered nurse.

a woman who has the general care of a child or children; dry nurse.

a woman employed to suckle an infant; wet nurse.

any fostering agency or influence.

Entomology. a worker that attends the young in a colony of social insects.

Billiards. the act of maintaining the position of billiard balls in preparation for a carom.

verb (used with object), nursed, nurs·ing.

to tend or minister to in sickness, infirmity, etc.

to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself: to nurse a cold.

to look after carefully so as to promote growth, development, etc.; foster; cherish: to nurse one's meager talents.

to treat or handle with adroit care in order to further one's own interests: to nurse one's nest egg.

to use, consume, or dispense very slowly or carefully: He nursed the one drink all evening.

to keep steadily in mind or memory: He nursed a grudge against me all the rest of his life.

to suckle (an infant).

to feed and tend in infancy.

to bring up, train, or nurture.

to clasp or handle carefully or fondly: to nurse a plate of food on one's lap.

Billiards. to maintain the position of (billiard balls) for a series of caroms.

verb (used without object), nursed, nurs·ing.

to suckle a child, especially one's own.

(of a child) to suckle: The child did not nurse after he was three months old.

to act as nurse; tend the sick or infirm.

Nearby words

Origin of nurse

1350–1400; (noun) Middle English, variant of n(o)urice, norice < Old French < Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun use of feminine of Latin nūtrīcius nutritious; (v.) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish), assimilated to the noun

SYNONYMS FOR nurse

9 encourage, abet, help, aid, back.

14 rear, raise. 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.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR nurse ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR nurse

7, 9 neglect.

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Related formsnon·nurs·ing, adjectiveo·ver·nurse, verb (used with object), o·ver·nursed, o·ver·nurs·ing.un·der·nurse, nounwell-nursed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for nursing

They made it home, after which he did die, she nursing him to the end.
The Real-Life ‘Downton’ Millionairesses Who Changed Britain|Tim Teeman|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Ovens using gas cylinders were set up to make bread under bridges, and nursing stations appeared, offering medicines,” he writes.
How Pope Francis Became the World’s BFF|Jason Berry|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She spent almost two years in a nursing home – two years of loneliness she would like to forget.
Care Providers Fight for $15 and a Union|Jasmin Almodovar, Shirley Thompson|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was known to traverse Brooklyn to visit somebody a decade older than himself in a nursing home.
How Brooklyn’s First Ice Cream Girl Fought City Hall–and Won|Michael Daly|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“In two of four hospitals assessed, nursing staff members were not coming to work or had abandoned facilities,” the paper reads.
$10,000 a Month for Ebola Fighters|Abby Haglage|October 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She died from diphtheria caught while nursing her husband and children.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1|Various
My father holds His meagre millions guarded, nursing them To a prince's portion.
The Mortal Gods and Other Plays|Olive Tilford Dargan
If you persist in going on like this I shall think I am in a nursing home!
Sixteen Months in Four German Prisons|Henry Charles Mahoney
She saved him almost from death, and while nursing him back to health they talked much of her early days and years of slavery.
Lafcadio Hearn|Nina H. Kennard
The nursing of a man of Letters, or of the neighbour to him, a beggar in rags, would not have been so tolerated.
The Celt and Saxon, Complete|George Meredith

British Dictionary definitions for nursing (1 of 2)

nursing

/ (ˈnɜːsɪŋ) /

noun

the practice or profession of caring for the sick and injured
(as modifier)a nursing home

British Dictionary definitions for nursing (2 of 2)

nurse

/ (nɜːs) /

noun

a person who tends the sick, injured, or infirm

short for nursemaid

a woman employed to breast-feed another woman's child; wet nurse

a worker in a colony of social insects that takes care of the larvae

verb (mainly tr)

(also intr) to tend (the sick)

(also intr) to feed (a baby) at the breast; suckle

to try to cure (an ailment)

to clasp carefully or fondlyshe nursed the crying child in her arms

(also intr) (of a baby) to suckle at the breast (of)

to look after (a child) as one's employment

to attend to carefully; foster, cherishhe nursed the magazine through its first year; having a very small majority he nursed the constituency diligently

to harbour; preserveto nurse a grudge

billiards to keep (the balls) together for a series of cannons

Word Origin for nurse

C16: from earlier norice, Old French nourice, from Late Latin nūtrīcia nurse, from Latin nūtrīcius nourishing, from nūtrīre to nourish

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for nursing (1 of 4)

nursing

1530s, verbal noun from nurse (v.). Meaning "profession of one who nurses the sick" is from 1860.

Word Origin and History for nursing (1 of 4)

nurse

1530s, "to suckle (an infant);" 1520s in the passive sense, "to bring up" (a child); alteration of Middle English nurshen (13c.; see nourish), Sense of "take care of (a sick person)" is first recorded 1736. Related: Nursed; nursing.

Word Origin and History for nursing (2 of 4)

nurse

n.1

12c., nurrice "wet-nurse, foster-mother to a young child" (modern form from late 14c.), from Old French norrice "foster-mother, wet-nurse, nanny" (source of proper name Norris), from Late Latin *nutricia "nurse, governess, tutoress," noun use of fem. of Latin nutricius "that suckles, nourishes," from nutrix (genitive nutricis) "wet-nurse," from nutrire "to suckle" (see nourish). Meaning "person who takes care of sick" in English first recorded 1580s.

Word Origin and History for nursing (3 of 4)

nurse

n.2

"dog fish, shark," late 15c., of unknown origin.

Medicine definitions for nursing (1 of 2)

nursing

[ nûr′sĭng ]

n.

The profession of a nurse.

The tasks performed or care provided by a nurse.

The act or practice of breast-feeding.

Medicine definitions for nursing (2 of 2)

nurse

[ nûrs ]

n.

A person trained to care for the sick or disabled, especially one educated in the scientific basis of human response to health problems and trained to assist a physician.

A wet nurse.

An individual who cares for an infant or young child.

v.

To serve as a nurse.

To provide or take nourishment from the breast; suckle.

nurse

noun

verb (used with object), nursed, nurs·ing.

verb (used without object), nursed, nurs·ing.

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of nurse

Examples from the Web for nursing

British Dictionary definitions for nursing (1 of 2)

nursing

noun

British Dictionary definitions for nursing (2 of 2)

nurse

noun

verb (mainly tr)

Word Origin for nurse

Word Origin and History for nursing (1 of 4)

nursing

Word Origin and History for nursing (1 of 4)

nurse

Word Origin and History for nursing (2 of 4)

nurse

Word Origin and History for nursing (3 of 4)

nurse

Medicine definitions for nursing (1 of 2)

nursing

n.

Medicine definitions for nursing (2 of 2)

nurse

n.

v.