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foster - 12 dictionary results
Foster Care Report
 More youth aging out without a family. What to do?
 www.PewTrusts.org
Penny Lane Centers
 Foster Care and Adoption Services throughout Los Angeles
 www.pennylane.org
Foster Parenting
 Foster Parents give children hope Help Neglected and Abused Children
 www.koinoniafamilyservices.org

fos⋅ter

  [faw-ster, fos-ter]
Use foster in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to promote the growth or development of; further; encourage: to foster new ideas.
2. to bring up, raise, or rear, as a foster child.
3. to care for or cherish.
4. British. to place (a child) in a foster home.
5. Obsolete. to feed or nourish.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE fōstor nourishment, fōstrian to nourish; c. ON fōstr; akin to food

Related forms:
fos⋅ter⋅er, noun
fos⋅ter⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. favor, forward, advance; foment, instigate. 2. nurse, nourish, sustain, support, maintain. 3. See cherish.

Antonyms:
1. discourage.
Foster Care Report
 More youth aging out without a family. What to do?
 www.PewTrusts.org
Penny Lane Centers
 Foster Care and Adoption Services throughout Los Angeles
 www.pennylane.org

Fos⋅ter

  [faw-ster, fos-ter]
–noun
1. Stephen (Collins), 1826–64, U.S. songwriter.
2. William Z(eb⋅u⋅lon)  [zeb-yuh-luhn] , 1881–1961, U.S. labor organizer: leader in the Communist party.
3. a male given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fos·ter   (fô'stər, fŏs'tər)   
tr.v.   fos·tered, fos·ter·ing, fos·ters
  1. To bring up; nurture: bear and foster offspring. See Synonyms at nurture.
  2. To promote the growth and development of; cultivate: detect and foster artistic talent. See Synonyms at advance.
  3. To nurse; cherish: foster a secret hope.
adj.  
  1. Providing parental care and nurture to children not related through legal or blood ties: foster parents; foster grandparents; a foster home.
  2. Receiving parental care and nurture from those not related to one through legal or blood ties: foster children.

[Middle English fostren, from Old English *fōstrian, to nourish, from fōstor, food, nourishing; see pā- in Indo-European roots.]
Fos·ter   (fô'stər, fŏs'tər)   
American songwriter whose popular works, such as "Oh! Susannah" (1848) and "Old Folks at Home" (1851), reflect the sentiment of pre-Civil War America.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Foster

Fos"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fostered, p. pr. & vb. n. Fostering.] [OE. fostren, fr. AS. f[=o]ster, f[=o]stor, food, nourishment, fr. f[=o]da food. [root]75. See Food.]

1. To feed; to nourish; to support; to bring up.

Some say that ravens foster forlorn children. --Shak.

2. To cherish; to promote the growth of; to encourage; to sustain and promote; as, to foster genius.

Foster

Fos"ter\, v. i. To be nourished or trained up together. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Foster

Fos"ter\, a. [AS. f[=o]ster, f[=o]stor, nourishment. See Foster, v. t.] Relating to nourishment; affording, receiving, or sharing nourishment or nurture; -- applied to father, mother, child, brother, etc., to indicate that the person so called stands in the relation of parent, child, brother, etc., as regards sustenance and nurture, but not by tie of blood.

Foster babe, or child, an infant of child nursed by a woman not its mother, or bred by a man not its father.

Foster brother, Foster sister, one who is, or has been, nursed at the same breast, or brought up by the same nurse as another, but is not of the same parentage.

Foster dam, one who takes the place of a mother; a nurse. --Dryden.

Foster earth, earth by which a plant is nourished, though not its native soil. --J. Philips.

{ Foster father}, a man who takes the place of a father in caring for a child. --Bacon.

Foster land. (a) Land allotted for the maintenance of any one. [Obs.] (b) One's adopted country.

Foster lean [foster + AS. l[ae]n a loan See Loan.], remuneration fixed for the rearing of a foster child; also, the jointure of a wife. [Obs.] --Wharton.

Foster mother, a woman who takes a mother's place in the nurture and care of a child; a nurse.

Foster nurse, a nurse; a nourisher. [R.] --Shak.

Foster parent, a foster mother or foster father.

Foster son, a male foster child.

Foster

Fos"ter\, n. A forester. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Foster

Fos"ter\, n. One who, or that which, fosters.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : foster
Spanish: acoger, criar,
German: pflegen,
Japanese: 養育する
More Translations »

foster  (v.)
O.E. *fostrian "to supply with food, nourish, support," from fostor "food, nourishment, bringing up," from P.Gmc. *fostrom, from root *foth-/*fod- (see food). Meaning "to bring up a child with parental care" is from c.1205; that of "to encourage or help grow" is c.1225 of things; 1570 of feelings, ideas, etc. O.E. also had the adj. meaning "in the same family but not related," in fostorfæder, etc.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: fos·ter
Function: adjective
: affording, receiving, or sharing nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal relationships foster child> foster parent>

Main Entry: foster
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: fos·tered; fos·ter·ing
: to give parental care to
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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 Foster Parents give children hope Help Neglected and Abused Children
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