/ nɜːs; NAmE nɜːrs/ noun , verb
■ noun
1.
a person whose job is to take care of sick or injured people, usually in a hospital :
a qualified / registered nurse
student nurses
a male nurse
a dental nurse (= one who helps a dentist)
a psychiatric nurse (= one who works in a hospital for people with mental illnesses)
Nurse Bennett
Nurse, come quickly!
—see also charge nurse , district nurse , practical nurse , registered nurse , staff nurse ➡ note at gender
2.
(also nurse·maid ) ( old-fashioned ) (in the past) a woman or girl whose job was to take care of babies or small children in their own homes
—see also nursery nurse , wet nurse
■ verb
1.
[ vn ] to care for sb who is ill / sick or injured :
He worked in a hospital for ten years nursing cancer patients.
She nursed her daughter back to health .
2.
[ vn ] to take care of an injury or illness :
Several weeks after the match, he was still nursing a shoulder injury.
You'd better go to bed and nurse that cold.
( figurative )
She was nursing her hurt pride.
3.
[ vn ] ( formal ) to have a strong feeling or idea in your mind for a long time
SYN harbour :
to nurse an ambition / a grievance / a grudge
She had been nursing a secret desire to see him again.
4.
[ vn ] to give special care or attention to sb/sth :
to nurse tender young plants
5.
[ vn ] to hold sb/sth carefully in your arms or close to your body :
He sat nursing his cup of coffee.
6.
( of a woman or female animal ) to feed a baby with milk from the breast
SYN suckle :
[ v ]
a nursing mother
[ vn ]
The lioness is still nursing her cubs.
—compare breastfeed
7.
[ v ] ( of a baby ) to suck milk from its mother's breast
SYN suckle
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : contraction of earlier nourice , from Old French , from late Latin nutricia , feminine of Latin nutricius (person) that nourishes, from nutrix , nutric- nurse, from nutrire nourish. The verb was originally a contraction of nourish , altered under the influence of the noun.