nurse

[nurs] /nɜrs/
noun
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.
verb (used with object), nursed, nursing.
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.
verb (used without object), nursed, nursing.
18.
to suckle a child, especially 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.
Origin
1350-1400; (noun) Middle English, variant of n(o)urice, norice < Old French < Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun use of feminine of Latin nūtrīcius nutritious; (v.) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish), assimilated to the noun
Related forms
nonnursing, adjective
overnurse, verb (used with object), overnursed, overnursing.
undernurse, noun
well-nursed, adjective
Synonyms
9. encourage, abet, help, aid, back. 14. 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.
Antonyms
7, 9. neglect.
Examples from the web for nurse
  • The hospital's visiting-nurse liaison would help us by making arrangements for outpatient nursing care.
  • Kids can print illustrations of nurse sharks and other animals to color or use in school projects.
  • Bison cows give birth after nine months and nurse their calves for about a year.
  • The nurse then scans the medicine container and the system registers the dosage.
  • Ask any nurse you know that has worked in a hospital.
  • My sharp-eyed companions pointed out barracuda and a nurse shark, lying quietly in the shallows.
  • The lemon and nurse sharks inside instantly darted to the opposite wall.
  • nurse wearing a mask as protection against influenza.
  • In addition, you should tie the legs of the calf so it does not immediately try to nurse the cow.
  • The third holds an endoscope-usually a job for a human nurse.
British Dictionary definitions for nurse

nurse

/nɜːs/
noun
1.
a person who tends the sick, injured, or infirm
2.
short for nursemaid
3.
a woman employed to breast-feed another woman's child; wet nurse
4.
a worker in a colony of social insects that takes care of the larvae
verb (mainly transitive)
5.
(also intransitive) to tend (the sick)
6.
(also intransitive) to feed (a baby) at the breast; suckle
7.
to try to cure (an ailment)
8.
to clasp carefully or fondly: she nursed the crying child in her arms
9.
(also intransitive) (of a baby) to suckle at the breast (of)
10.
to look after (a child) as one's employment
11.
to attend to carefully; foster, cherish: he nursed the magazine through its first year, having a very small majority he nursed the constituency diligently
12.
to harbour; preserve: to nurse a grudge
13.
(billiards) to keep (the balls) together for a series of cannons
Word Origin
C16: from earlier norice, Old French nourice, from Late Latin nūtrīcia nurse, from Latin nūtrīcius nourishing, from nūtrīre to nourish
Word Origin and History for nurse
n.

12c., nurrice "wet-nurse, foster-mother to a young child" (modern form from late 14c.), from Old French norrice "foster-mother, wet-nurse, nanny" (source of proper name Norris), from Late Latin *nutricia "nurse, governess, tutoress," noun use of fem. of Latin nutricius "that suckles, nourishes," from nutrix (genitive nutricis) "wet-nurse," from nutrire "to suckle" (see nourish). Meaning "person who takes care of sick" in English first recorded 1580s.

"dog fish, shark," late 15c., of unknown origin.

v.

1530s, "to suckle (an infant);" 1520s in the passive sense, "to bring up" (a child); alteration of Middle English nurshen (13c.; see nourish), Sense of "take care of (a sick person)" is first recorded 1736. Related: Nursed; nursing.

nurse in Medicine

nurse (nûrs)
n.

  1. 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.

  2. A wet nurse.

  3. An individual who cares for an infant or young child.

v. nursed, nurs·ing, nurs·es

  1. To serve as a nurse.

  2. To provide or take nourishment from the breast; suckle.

Slang definitions & phrases for nurse

nurse

verb
  1. To consume one's drink slowly: He ordered a highball and nursed it all evening (1942+)
  2. To handle or drive slowly and carefully: I nursed it away from the curb and went out Main Street (1980s+)