a woman who has the general care of a child or children; dry nurse.
3.
a woman employed to suckle an infant; wet nurse.
4.
any fostering agency or influence.
5.
Entomology. a worker that attends the young in a colony of social insects.
6.
Billiards. the act of maintaining the position of billiard balls in preparation for a carom.
–verb (used with object)
7.
to tend or minister to in sickness, infirmity, etc.
8.
to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself: to nurse a cold.
9.
to look after carefully so as to promote growth, development, etc.; foster; cherish: to nurse one's meager talents.
10.
to treat or handle with adroit care in order to further one's own interests: to nurse one's nest egg.
11.
to use, consume, or dispense very slowly or carefully: He nursed the one drink all evening.
12.
to keep steadily in mind or memory: He nursed a grudge against me all the rest of his life.
13.
to suckle (an infant).
14.
to feed and tend in infancy.
15.
to bring up, train, or nurture.
16.
to clasp or handle carefully or fondly: to nurse a plate of food on one's lap.
17.
Billiards. to maintain the position of (billiard balls) for a series of caroms.
–verb (used without object)
18.
to suckle a child, esp. one's own.
19.
(of a child) to suckle: The child did not nurse after he was three months old.
20.
to act as nurse; tend the sick or infirm.
[Origin: 1350–1400; (n.) ME, var. of n(o)urice, norice < OF < LL nūtrīcia, n. use of fem. of L nūtrīciusnutritious; (v.) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish), assimilated to the n.]
—Synonyms 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.
A person educated and trained to care for the sick or disabled.
A woman employed to take care of a child; a nursemaid.
A woman employed to suckle children other than her own; a wet nurse.
One that serves as a nurturing or fostering influence or means: "Town life is the nurse of civilization"(C.L.R. James).
Zoology A worker ant or bee that feeds and cares for the colony's young.
v.
nursed, nurs·ing, nurs·es
v.
tr.
To serve as a nurse for: nursed the patient back to health.
To cause or allow to take milk from the breast: a mother nursing her baby.
To feed at the breast of; suckle.
To try to cure by special care or treatment: nurse a cough with various remedies.
To treat carefully, especially in order to prevent pain: He nursed his injured knee by shifting his weight to the other leg.
To manage or guide carefully; look after with care; foster: nursed her business through the depression. See Synonyms at nurture.
To bear privately in the mind: nursing a grudge.
To consume slowly, especially in order to conserve: nursed one drink all evening.
v.
intr.
To serve as a nurse.
To take nourishment from the breast; suckle.
[Middle English norice, nurse, wet nurse, from Old French norrice, from Vulgar Latin *nutrīcia, from Late Latin nūtrīcia, from feminine of Latin nūtrīcius, that suckles, from nūtrīx, nūtrīc-, wet nurse; see (s)nāu- in Indo-European roots.]
12c., nurrice "wet nurse, foster-mother to a young child," from O.Fr. norrice (source of proper name Norris), from L.L. *nutricia "nurse, governess, tutoress," from L., fem. of nutricius "that suckles, nourishes," from nutrix (gen. nutricis) "wet nurse," from nutrire "to suckle" (see nourish). Meaning "person who takes care of sick" first recorded in Eng. 1590; the verb is first attested 1535 in sense of "to suckle (an infant)," 1526 in the passive sense, alt. of M.E. nurshen (13c.; see nourish), originally "to bring up or suckle a child," sense of "take care of (a sick person)" is first recorded 1736.
one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)
2.
a woman who is the custodian of children [syn: nanny]
verb
1.
try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury; "He nursed his cold with Chinese herbs"
2.
maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings); "bear a grudge"; "entertain interesting notions"; "harbor a resentment" [syn: harbor]
3.
serve as a nurse; care for sick or handicapped people
4.
treat carefully; "He nursed his injured back by lying in bed several hours every afternoon"; "He nursed the flowers in his garden and fertilized them regularly"
5.
give suck to; "The wetnurse suckled the infant"; "You cannot nurse your baby in public in some places" [syn: breastfeed] [ant: bottlefeed]
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.nursed, nurs·ing, nurs·es
To
serve as a nurse.
To provide or take nourishment from the breast; suckle.
Main Entry: 2nurse Function: verb Inflected Forms: nursed; nurs·ing transitive senses 1 a: to nourish at the
breast :SUCKLEb: to take nourishment from the breast of : suck milk from 2 a: to care for and wait on (as an injured or infirm person) b: to attempt a cure of (as an ailment) by care and treatment nurseintransitive senses 1
a: to feed an offspring from the breast b: to feed at the breast :SUCK 2: to act or serve as a nurse
Main Entry: 1nurse Pronunciation: 'n&rs Function: noun 1: a woman who suckles an infant not her own :WET NURSE 2: a person who cares for the sick or infirm; specifically: a licensed
health-care professional who practices independently or is supervised by a physician, surgeon, or dentist and who is skilled in promoting and maintaining health —see LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSE, LICENSED
VOCATIONAL NURSE, REGISTERED NURSE
Nour"ish\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nourished; p. pr. & vb. n. Nourishing.] [OE. norisen, norischen, OF. nurir, nurrir, norir, F. norrir, fr. L. nutrire. Cf. Nurse, Nutriment, and see -ish.]1. To feed and cause to grow; to supply with matter which increases bulk or supplies waste, and promotes health; to furnish with nutriment. He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. --Is. xliv. 14. 2. To support; to maintain. Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mighty band. --Shak. 3. To supply the means of support and increase to; to encourage; to foster; as, to nourish rebellion; to nourish the virtues. "Nourish their contentions." --Hooker. 4. To cherish; to comfort. Ye have nourished your hearts. --James v. 5. 5. To educate; to instruct; to bring up; to nurture; to promote the growth of in attainments. --Chaucer. Nourished up in the words of faith. --1 Tim. iv. 6. Syn: To cherish; feed; supply. See Nurture.
Nour"sle\, v. t. [Freq., fr. OE. nourse. See Nurse.] To nurse; to rear; to bring up. [Obs.] [Written also nosel, nousel, nousle, nowsle, nusle, nuzzle, etc.] She noursled him till years he raught. --Spenser.
Nurse\, n. [OE. nourse, nurice, norice, OF. nurrice, norrice, nourrice, F. nourrice, fr. L. nutricia nurse, prop., fem. of nutricius that nourishes; akin to nutrix, -icis, nurse, fr. nutrire to nourish. See Nourish, and cf. Nutritious.]1. One who nourishes; a person who supplies food, tends, or brings up; as: (a) A woman who has the care of young children; especially, one who suckles an infant not her own. (b) A person, especially a woman, who has the care of the sick or infirm. 2. One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, fosters, or the like. The nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise. --Burke. 3. (Naut.) A lieutenant or first officer, who is the real commander when the captain is unfit for his place. 4. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A peculiar larva of certain trematodes which produces cercari[ae] by asexual reproduction. See Cercaria, and Redia. (b) Either one of the nurse sharks. Nurse shark. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A large arctic shark (Somniosus microcephalus), having small teeth and feeble jaws; -- called also sleeper shark, and ground shark. (b) A large shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), native of the West Indies and Gulf of Mexico, having the dorsal fins situated behind the ventral fins. To put to nurse, or To put out to nurse, to send away to be nursed; to place in the care of a nurse. Wet nurse, Dry nurse. See Wet nurse, and Dry nurse, in the Vocabulary.
Nurse\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nursed; p. pr. & vb. n. Nursing.]1. To nourish; to cherish; to foster; as: (a) To nourish at the breast; to suckle; to feed and tend, as an infant. (b) To take care of or tend, as a sick person or an invalid; to attend upon. Sons wont to nurse their parents in old age. --Milton. Him in Egerian groves Aricia bore, And nursed his youth along the marshy shore. --Dryden. 2. To bring up; to raise, by care, from a weak or invalid condition; to foster; to cherish; -- applied to plants, animals, and to any object that needs, or thrives by, attention. "To nurse the saplings tall." --Milton. By what hands [has vice] been nursed into so uncontrolled a dominion? --Locke. 3. To manage with care and economy, with a view to increase; as, to nurse our national resources. 4. To caress; to fondle, as a nurse does. --A. Trollope. To nurse billiard balls, to strike them gently and so as to keep them in good position during a series of caroms.
Nu*tri"tious\, a. [L. nutricius, nutritius, from nutrix, -icis, a nurse, nutrire to nourish. See Nurse, Nourish.] Nourishing; promoting growth, or preventing decay; alimental. -- Nu*tri"tious*ly, adv. -- Nu*tri"tious*ness, n.
Re"di*a\ (r?"d?*?), n.; pl. L. Redi[ae] (-[=e]), E. Redias (-?z). [NL.; of uncertain origin.] (Zo["o]l.) A kind of larva, or nurse, which is prroduced within the sporocyst of certain trematodes by asexual generation. It in turn produces, in the same way, either another generation of redi[ae], or else cercari[ae] within its own body. Called also proscolex, and nurse. See Illustration in Appendix.
Sleep"er\, n. 1. One who sleeps; a slumberer; hence, a drone, or lazy person. 2. That which lies dormant, as a law. [Obs.] --Bacon. 3. A sleeping car. [Colloq. U.S.] 4. (Zo["o]l.) An animal that hibernates, as the bear. 5. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A large fresh-water gobioid fish (Eleotris dormatrix). (b) A nurse shark. See under Nurse.
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