noun, verb, nursed, nurs⋅ing.| 1. | a person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm. Compare nurse-midwife, nurse-practitioner, physician's assistant, practical nurse, registered nurse. |
| 2. | 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |

nurse (nûrs) n.
v. tr.
[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.] nurs'er n. |
nurse (nûrs)
n.
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.
To serve as a nurse.
To provide or take nourishment from the breast; suckle.