nurse

Pronunciation: /nɜːs/

The English word “nurse” has 19 meanings listed here.

noun

Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession.
A medical worker performing this role, typically someone trained to provide such care but having credentials and rank below a doctor or physician assistant.
A medical worker, such as a registered nurse, having training, credentials, and rank above a nurse assistant.
A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s children.
One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters.
A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.
A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.
A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.
A wet nurse.
A nurse shark or dogfish.

verb

To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle.
To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast.
To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to.
To tend gently and with extra care.
To manage or oversee (something) with care and economy.
To drink (a beverage) slowly, so as to make it last.
To cultivate or persistently entertain (an attitude, usually negative) in one's mind; to brood or obsess over.
To hold closely to one's chest.
To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots.

Etymology

From Middle English norice, from Old French norrice, from Late Latin nūtrīcia, noun based on Latin nūtrīcius (“that which nourishes”), from nūtrīx (“wet nurse”), from nūtriō (“to suckle”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.