NURSE, n. 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, v.t. 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 60.6. 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.
|