Showing results for "mothering"

• present participle of mother.

mothering

American  

[muhth-er-ing] / ˈmʌð ər ɪŋ /

noun

1. the nurturing of a child by a mother or in the way that a mother does.

   I'm so relieved to be finally able to do the mothering of my children in my own home.

2. the act of caring for or protecting like a mother, sometimes in an excessive way.

   Even though her cold wasn't better yet, she was getting tired of his mothering.

3. (in rural England) the custom of visiting one's parents on Laetare Sunday with a present.

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Etymology

Origin of mothering

First recorded in 1640–50; mother ¹ + -ing ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mothering

While mothering her two teenagers, one of them newly identifies as nonbinary — “It was Laurel’s job to not make a big deal about this” — she obsesses about her husband’s questionable fidelity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Would my mothering improve before the baby was born?

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

“Kin,” set in the segregated South in the 1950s and ’60s, focuses on the crucial importance of mothering, sisterhood and close female friendships in young women’s lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026

I just really, like, I can’t imagine mothering without their help, because they’re just so in tune to each other.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2025

Instead, she said to me out of the blue, “You don’t get much mothering, do you?”

From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English

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