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nurse

/nɜːs/

noun

Meaning

  • A wet nurse.

  • A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s young.

    "They hired a nurse to care for their young boy."

  • A person trained to provide care for the sick.

    "The nurse made her rounds through the hospital ward."

  • One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters.

    "Eton College has been called "the chief nurse of England's statesmen"."

  • A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.

  • A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.

  • A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.

  • A nurse shark.

verb

Meaning

  • To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle.

    "She believes that nursing her baby will make him strong and healthy."

  • To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast.

  • To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to.

    "She nursed him back to health."

  • To treat kindly and with extra care

    "She nursed the rosebush and that season it bloomed."

  • To manage with care and economy

  • To drink slowly

  • To foster, to nourish

  • To hold closely to one's chest

    "Would you like to nurse the puppy?"

  • To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots.

Synonyms

sip,
husband