nurse

NURSE, noun 1. A woman that has the care of infants, or a woman employed to tend the children of others. 2. A woman who suckles infants. 3. A woman that has the care of a sick person. 4. A man who has the care of the sick. 5. A person that breeds, educates or protects; hence, that which breeds, brings up or causes to grow; as Greece, the nurse of the liberal arts. 6. An old woman; in contempt. 7. The state of being nursed; as, to put a child to nurse 8. In composition, that which supplies food; as a nurse-pond. NURSE, verb transitive 1. To tend, as infants; as, to nurse a child. 2. To suckle; to nourish at the breast. 3. To attend and take care of in child-bed; as, to nurse a woman in her illness. 4. To tend the sick; applied to males and females. 5. To ffed; to maintain; to bring up. Isaiah 60:4. 6. To cherish; to foster; to encourage; to promote growth in. We say, to nurse a feeble animal or plant. By what hands has vice been nursed into so uncontrolled a dominion? 7. To manage with care and economy, with a view to increase; as, to nurse our national resources.