English
nurse
see also: Nurse
Pronunciation Noun

nurse (plural nurses)

  1. (archaic) A wet nurse.
  2. A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s young.
    They hired a nurse to care for their young boy.
  3. A person trained to provide care for the sick.
    The nurse made her rounds through the hospital ward.
    • 1990, Andrew Davies, Michael Dobbs, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 4
      Francis Urquhart: Right. Mackenzie. Health. No chance of getting him into a demo at a hospital, I suppose?
      Tim Stamper: Doesn't go to hospitals any more. Kept getting beaten up by the nurses... I think he has trouble getting insured now.
  4. (figurative) 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".
    • the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise
  5. (horticulture) A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.
  6. (nautical) A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.
  7. A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.
  8. A nurse shark.
Translations Translations Verb

nurse (nurses, present participle nursing; past and past participle nursed)

  1. (transitive) To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle.
    She believes that nursing her baby will make him strong and healthy.
  2. (intransitive) To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast.
  3. (transitive) To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to.
    She nursed him back to health.
  4. to treat kindly and with extra care
    She nursed the rosebush and that season it bloomed.
  5. to manage with care and economy
    Synonyms: husband
  6. to drink slowly
  7. to foster, to nourish
  8. to hold closely to one's chest
    Would you like to nurse the puppy?
  9. (billiards) To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots.
    • 1866, United States. Congress. Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Supplemental report of the Joint Committee
      It is to our interest to let Lee and Johnston come together, just as a billiard-player would nurse the balls when he has them in a nice place
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
Nurse
Proper noun
  1. Surname


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