See Also: dry nurse(medicine)
dry-nurse(dictionary)
nurse(1)(dictionary)
wet nurse(dictionary)
wet-nurse(dictionary)
nurse(2)(dictionary)
nurse(dictionary)
Nurse(medicine)
wet nurse(medicine)
Registered nurse(health)

nurse(1) (iou)



nurse noun1. LME.
[Contr. of NOURICE.]
a. Orig., a wet-nurse. Later, a woman employed or trained to take charge of a young child or children. arch. LME.
b. transf. & fig. A source of nourishment and care; a person who takes care of or looks after another. LME.
Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona Time is the nurse and breeder of all good.
A person, esp. a woman, caring for the sick or infirm, spec. one professionally qualified for this purpose; a person professionally qualified to provide advice on health and to treat minor medical problems. Freq. with specifying word. L16.
charge-nurse, district nurse, geriatric nurse, etc. DENTAL nurse.
Forestry. A tree planted to shelter others. Also nurse-tree. L18.
Entomology. A worker ant, bee, etc., which cares for the larvae. E19.
Zoology. In some invertebrates, esp. tunicates, an asexual individual. M19.
Phrases: at nurse in the care or charge of a nurse. put out to nurse, put to nurse commit to the care or charge of a nurse.
Comb.: nurse cell any cell whose function appears to be to support or nourish another, esp. an ovum; nurse-child arch. a child in relation to his or her nurse; a foster-child; nurse-crop: planted to protect another; nurse-father a foster-father; nurse-frog the midwife toad; nurse-mother (now rare or obsolete) a foster-mother; nurse-plant: which is host to a parasite; nurses' home a hostel providing residential accommodation for the nurses employed by a hospital; nurse-tend verb trans. & intrans. care for (a sick or infirm person); nurse-tender (chiefly Anglo-Irish) a nurse who cares for a sick or infirm person; nurse-tree: see sense 3 above.