I. | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ noun
Etymology: foster mother (noun phrase) woman that feeds or brings up another's child, from Middle English foster moder, fostermoder, from Old English fōstormōdor; akin to Old Norse fōstrmōthir woman that feeds or brings up another's child; both from a prehistoric North Germanic-West Germanic compound whose first and second constituents respectively are represented by Old English fōstor food, feeding and by Old English mōdor mother — more at foster , mother I
Britain : a device intended to foster young animals: as
a. : a completely enclosed movable heated house and attached run for starting young chicks without a hen
b. : a many-nippled nursing bottle for feeding litters of puppies or pigs
II. transitive verb
Etymology: foster mother (noun phrase) woman that feeds or brings up another's child
: to serve as the mother of
foster-mother three little children — Dorothy C. Fisher