nursing home
Americannoun
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a private residential institution equipped to care for persons unable to look after themselves, as the aged or chronically ill.
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Chiefly British. a small private hospital; a small hospital owned by one person or a group of individuals and supported solely by the fees of patients.
noun
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a private hospital or residence staffed and equipped to care for aged or infirm persons
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a private maternity home
Etymology
Origin of nursing home
First recorded in 1895–1900
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.
Lynette Vanhorne, a resident, said in March that her condo isn’t livable, so she is staying at the nursing home where she works.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026
And we spoke with a middle-aged woman with schizophrenia and panic disorder who lives with her brother’s family because she can’t hold down a job and fears being left alone in a nursing home.
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2026
A study a few years ago found that resident mortality jumped by 10% on average after a nursing home was taken over by private equity.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 24, 2026
She added that those who knew her in Lisadian nursing home described her as a "lovely lady, with a very sweet and gentle soul".
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026
This is beginning to look like a plan: from maids’ service to something better, with the nursing home tiding me over during the transition.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
