nursery

UK: /ˈnɜː^rs^əri/ US: /ˈnɝsəri/ ,(nûr′sə rē)

Inflections of 'nursery' (n): npl: nurseries

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

nurs•er•y /ˈnɜrsəri/   n. [countable] , pl. -er•ies. 

1. a room or place set apart for infants or very young children.
2. Education a nursery school or day nursery.
3. a place where young trees or other plants are raised.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

nurs•er•y  (nûr′sə rē), n., pl. -er•ies. 

1. a room or place set apart for young children.
2. Education a nursery school or day nursery.
3. a place where young trees or other plants are raised for transplanting, for sale, or for experimental study.
4. any place in which something is bred, nourished, or fostered:
   The art institute has been the nursery of much great painting.
5. any situation, condition, circumstance, practice, etc., serving to breed or foster something:
   Slums are nurseries for young criminals.

• Middle English norcery. See nurse, -ery 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

nursery / ˈnɜːsrɪ/ noun ( -ries)

1. a room in a house set apart for use by children
2. a place where plants, young trees, etc, are grown commercially
3. an establishment providing residential or day care for babies and very young children; crèche
4. short for nursery school
5. anywhere serving to foster or nourish new ideas, etc
6. Also called: nursery cannon a series of cannons with the three balls adjacent to a cushion, esp near a corner pocket
7. a cannon in such a series