nurse
Americannoun
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nurses
plural
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a person formally educated and trained in the care of the sick or infirm.
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a woman who has the general care of a child or children; dry nurse.
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a woman employed to suckle an infant; wet nurse.
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any fostering agency or influence.
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Entomology. a worker that attends the young in a colony of social insects.
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Billiards. the act of maintaining the position of billiard balls in preparation for a carom.
verb (used with object)
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nurses,
present (3rd person singular)
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nursed,
past participle, past
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nursing
present participle
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to tend or minister to in sickness, infirmity, etc.
- Antonyms:
- neglect
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to try to cure (an ailment) by taking care of oneself.
to nurse a cold.
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to look after carefully so as to promote growth, development, etc.; foster; cherish.
to nurse one's meager talents.
- Antonyms:
- neglect
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to treat or handle with adroit care in order to further one's own interests.
to nurse one's nest egg.
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to use, consume, or dispense very slowly or carefully.
He nursed the one drink all evening.
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to keep steadily in mind or memory.
He nursed a grudge against me all the rest of his life.
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to suckle (an infant).
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to feed and tend in infancy.
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to bring up, train, or nurture.
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to clasp or handle carefully or fondly.
to nurse a plate of food on one's lap.
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Billiards. to maintain the position of (billiard balls) for a series of caroms.
verb (used without object)
-
nurses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
nursed,
past participle, past
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nursing
present participle
-
to suckle a child, especially one's own.
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(of a child) to suckle.
The child did not nurse after he was three months old.
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to act as nurse; tend the sick or infirm.
noun
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a person who tends the sick, injured, or infirm
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short for nursemaid
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a woman employed to breast-feed another woman's child; wet nurse
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a worker in a colony of social insects that takes care of the larvae
verb
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(also intr) to tend (the sick)
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(also intr) to feed (a baby) at the breast; suckle
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to try to cure (an ailment)
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to clasp carefully or fondly
she nursed the crying child in her arms
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(also intr) (of a baby) to suckle at the breast (of)
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to look after (a child) as one's employment
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to attend to carefully; foster, cherish
he nursed the magazine through its first year
having a very small majority he nursed the constituency diligently
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to harbour; preserve
to nurse a grudge
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billiards to keep (the balls) together for a series of cannons
Usage
What does nurse mean? A nurse is someone who has been formally trained and educated to tend to the sick and infirm, as in The nurse double-checked the dosage of drugs the cancer patient was receiving. Related to this sense, nurse can be used to mean to tend to a person who is sick, infirm, or injured, as in The father nursed his daughter while she was sick with chickenpox. Nurse can also mean to take care of oneself to try to cure something, as in Jonah was nursing a cold last week. Nurse is also used to mean to breast-feed a baby, as in The mother cat nursed her litter of kittens. And nurse can mean to look after something carefully or to cherish something, as in Pat nursed her new company through the recession. Example: My brother went to school to be a nurse and is now working at the local hospital.
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nursesimple
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nursessimple
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have nursedperfect
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has nursedperfect
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am nursingprogressive
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are nursingprogressive
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is nursingprogressive
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have been nursingperfect progressive
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has been nursingperfect progressive
Past
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nursedsimple
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had nursedperfect
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was nursingprogressive
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were nursingprogressive
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had been nursingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of nurse
First recorded before 1350–1400; (noun) Middle English, variant of n(o)urice, norice, from Old French, from Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun use of feminine of Latin nūtrīcius nutritious; (verb) earlier nursh (reduced form of nourish ), assimilated to the noun
Explanation
A nurse is a trained healthcare worker who takes care of sick people. To nurse is to take care of, like if you nurse a baby bird back to health. To become a nurse, you have to go to college and study subjects like anatomy and nutrition. Some nurses assist doctors and perform tasks like bathing patients, taking blood samples, or giving medication. When you use the word nurse as a verb, it means "care for," and also "breastfeed a baby." The Latin root, nutrire, means "to nourish." To nurse a drink is to drink it slowly, and to nurse an idea is to mull it over.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 2026 outbreak was formally recognized after the death of a nurse.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
To feed her own family of five, the South Carolina-based nurse said she spends hours turning Costco hauls into big batches of soup and salad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Thirlwall was clear that her inquiry was not an investigation into Letby's guilt, which some supporters of the jailed nurse still contest.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
Did your work as a mental health nurse influence your rendering of trauma and addiction?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
The soldier spoke to the trim white-uniformed nurse behind the reception desk.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
In relation to the treatment of doctors, she said it should "never have been about nurses against doctors … it was about keeping babies safe".
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
"On my third day in hospital, I tried to stand up and I couldn't. The nurses told me not to walk and when you hear that it's a bit of an alarm bell," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Lynn Nelson is president of the National Association of School Nurses, an organization that provides guidance, resources and professional development to nearly 20,000 school nurses across the country.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
Doctors and specialised nurses often earn enough to meet Sweden's new, higher income requirements for work permits, but nursing assistants, elderly-care workers and adult children of healthcare workers in many cases do not.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
And there are nurses walking by and doctors with their coats.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
The bird, affectionately nicknamed Kinky because of the kink in its broken wing, was nursed back to health by its two, unusually caring parents.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
She nursed a swollen ankle after falling in the evacuation centre.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
My husband had devotedly nursed me through my own illness, only to be hit by one far worse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Even classical music listeners have their version in what may be the most legendary rivalry of all — the one that also-ran Italian composer Antonio Salieri supposedly nursed with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
Mom rubbed Ivy’s back, but her touch was uneven because she kept moving around and adjusting Evan while she nursed.
From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake
“At a time when California faces significant healthcare workforce shortages, affordable pathways to a bachelor of science in nursing are especially important in rural and underserved communities.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
Its future remains bright, but investors who chased the rally’s latter stages are nursing losses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
He’s been so rocked by recent tech layoffs over the past few years that he began taking part-time nursing classes at a local community college.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026
On the night of Hugo's death, there were two nurses and a nursing assistant on duty on Topaz ward – an inpatient unit for men with acute mental health issues.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Until he was ten, Bobby’s regimen was fairly routine: He played at the Brooklyn Chess Club every Friday night, with Regina sitting on the sidelines, reading a book or doing her nursing homework.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
