Longman Dictionary English

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Word family noun nurse nursery nursing verb nurse
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Related topics: Nurses, doctors, etc, Occupations
nursenurse1 /nɜːs $ nɜːrs/ ●●● S2 W3 noun [countable] 1 MNsomeone whose job is to look after people who are ill or injured, usually in a hospital The nurse is coming to give you an injection. The school nurse sent Sara home. a male nurse a senior nurse a student nurse (=someone who is learning to be a nurse) a psychiatric nurse (=a nurse for people who are mentally ill) a community nurse → district nurse, staff nurse2 old-fashionedBOLOOK AFTER somebody a woman employed to look after a young child SYN nanny → nursery nurse, wet nurse
Examples from the Corpus
nurse• Their male nurses, strong men, would carry them up the stairs and settle each one on to a cot.• The average age of nurses is now over 45.• Economics of nurse training Investigator: K Hartley Nurses are the most expensive single resource in the hospital sector.• A practical nurse brought old red wine, a silver tray of smoked salmon, crumbled hard-boiled egg, capers and lemon.• Josephine is a registered nurse.• Registered nurses are doing what only Nurse Practitioners used to do.• Only a Sister in her sixties, and two staff nurses were on duty in reception.• I asked the nurse what the problem was.• She asks the nurse if her husband has left.• Matron and some of the nurses were standing by.
Related topics: Nurses, doctors, etc, Birth
nursenurse2 ●○○ verb 1 sick people a) [transitive]LOOK AFTER somebody to look after someone who is ill or injured He’s been nursing an elderly relative. After Ray’s operation, Mrs Stallard nursed him back to health. b) [intransitive usually in progressive]MN to work as a nurse She spent several years nursing in a military hospital.2 rest [transitive]LOOK AFTER somebody to rest when you have an illness or injury so that it will get better Shaw has been nursing an injury, and will not play on Sunday.Grammar Nurse is never passive in this meaning.3 feed a baby a) [intransitive, transitive]MBHBH old-fashioned if a woman nurses a baby, she feeds it with milk from her breasts SYN breast-feed information on nutrition for nursing mothers b) [intransitive] if a baby nurses, it sucks milk from its mother’s breast4 your feelings [transitive]FEEL HAPPY/FRIGHTENED/BORED ETC to keep a feeling or idea in your mind for a long time, especially an angry feelingnurse a grudge/grievance/ambition etc For years he had nursed a grievance against his former employer.Grammar Nurse is never passive in this meaning.5 take care of something [transitive]LOOK AFTER somethingSUPPORT A PERSON, GROUP, OR PLAN to take special care of something, especially during a difficult situationnurse something through/along etc He bought the hotel in 1927 and managed to nurse it through the Depression. 6 drink [transitive] informal if you nurse a drink, especially an alcoholic one, you drink it very slowly Oliver sat at the bar, nursing a bottle of beer.7 hold [transitive] literaryHOLD to hold something carefully in your hands or arms close to your body a child nursing a kitten→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
nurse• She never nurses a grievance or plans revenge.• Police believe the suspect nursed a grudge against women.• Penelope sat on the couch nursing a scotch and soda.• Shaw has been nursing a sore ankle.• Parents will become superfluous, the robots will nurse and play with children.• So Demeter nursed Demophoon, the son that Metaneira had borne to wise Celeus.• The monks tended his wounds and nursed him back to health.• Irina had wanted to nurse him, but the doctors had sent her away.• Tony nursed his wife through her long illness without ever complaining.• Martha nursed Ted herself.• The youngest bees clean out the cells and nurse the brood.• The others need to nurse the insult.• Somewhere the sturdy beggars nursed their wounds and cursed.nurse a grudge/grievance/ambition etc• Since 1960, when they had been humiliated by the Summerdale police scandal, Chicago police had nursed a grudge.• Dawson had been nursing a grudge even more intense than that of the others.Origin nurse1 (1200-1300) Old French nurice, from Latin nutricius; → NUTRITIOUS nurse2 (1500-1600) nursh “to nourish” ((14-16 centuries)), from nourish; influenced by → NURSE1
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