the practice or profession of caring for sick and injured people (as modifier): a nursing home
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
nurse /nɜrs/USA pronunciation
n., v., nursed, nurs•ing.
n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025n. [countable]
- Medicinea person trained in the care of the sick, esp. a registered nurse.
- a woman who has the general care of a child or children;
dry nurse. - a woman who feeds someone else's baby from her own breast;
wet nurse.
v.
- to tend to or take care of (someone) in sickness:[~ + object]She nursed him back to health.
- to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself:[~ + object]She was nursing a cold.
- (of a woman) to feed (an infant) at the breast: [~ + object]The mother nursed her baby.[no object]She was nursing.
- [no object] (of an infant) to feed at the breast.
- to handle carefully or fondly, esp. to consume slowly:[~ + object]to nurse a cup of tea.
- to keep steadily in one's mind or memory:[~ + object]He nursed a grudge.
nurse
(nûrs),USA pronunciation n., v., nursed, nurs•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
- Medicinea person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm. Cf. nurse-midwife, nurse-practitioner, physician's assistant, practical nurse, registered nurse.
- a woman who has the general care of a child or children;
dry nurse. - a woman employed to suckle an infant;
wet nurse. - any fostering agency or influence.
- Insects[Entomol.]a worker that attends the young in a colony of social insects.
- Games[Billiards.]the act of maintaining the position of billiard balls in preparation for a carom.
v.t.
- to tend or minister to in sickness, infirmity, etc.
- to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself:to nurse a cold.
- to look after carefully so as to promote growth, development, etc.;
foster;
cherish:to nurse one's meager talents. - to treat or handle with adroit care in order to further one's own interests:to nurse one's nest egg.
- to use, consume, or dispense very slowly or carefully:He nursed the one drink all evening.
- to keep steadily in mind or memory:He nursed a grudge against me all the rest of his life.
- to suckle (an infant).
- to feed and tend in infancy.
- to bring up, train, or nurture.
- to clasp or handle carefully or fondly:to nurse a plate of food on one's lap.
- Games[Billiards.]to maintain the position of (billiard balls) for a series of caroms.
v.i.
- to suckle a child, esp. one's own.
- (of a child) to suckle:The child did not nurse after he was three months old.
- to act as nurse;
tend the sick or infirm.
- Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun, nominal use of feminine of Latin nūtrīcius nutritious; (verb, verbal) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish), assimilated to the noun, nominal
- Old French
- (noun, nominal) Middle English, variant of n(o)urice, norice 1350–1400
- 9.See corresponding entry in Unabridged encourage, abet, help, aid, back.
- 14.See corresponding entry in Unabridged 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.
- 7, 9.See corresponding entry in Unabridged neglect.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a person who tends sick, injured, or infirm people - short for nursemaid
a woman employed to breast-feed another woman's child; wet nurse a worker in a colony of social insects that takes care of the larvae
- (also intr)
to tend (a sick person or sick people) - (also intr)
to feed (a baby) at the breast; suckle to try to cure (an ailment) to clasp carefully or fondly: she nursed the crying child in her arms - (also intr)
(of a baby) to suckle at the breast (of) to attend to carefully; foster, cherish: I nursed the magazine through its first year, having a very small majority she nursed the constituency diligently to harbour; preserve: to nurse a grudge to keep (the balls) together for a series of cannons