nurse

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Nursed p. pr. & vb. n. Nursing. ] 1. To nourish; to cherish; to foster; as: (a) To nourish at the breast; to suckle; to feed and tend, as an infant. (b) To take care of or tend, as a sick person or an invalid; to attend upon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sons wont to nurse their parents in old age. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Him in Egerian groves Aricia bore,
And nursed his youth along the marshy shore. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To bring up; to raise, by care, from a weak or invalid condition; to foster; to cherish; -- applied to plants, animals, and to any object that needs, or thrives by, attention. “To nurse the saplings tall.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

By what hands [ has vice ] been nursed into so uncontrolled a dominion? Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To manage with care and economy, with a view to increase; as, to nurse our national resources. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To caress; to fondle, as a nurse does. A. Trollope. [ 1913 Webster ]

To nurse billiard balls, to strike them gently and so as to keep them in good position during a series of caroms. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. fed mother's milk from the breast; -- of an infant.
Syn. -- suckled, breast-fed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) See Houndfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An infant considered in relation to its nurse.
Syn. -- nursling, suckling. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A girl or woman employed to attend and care for children. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A pond where fish are fed. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who nurses; a nurse; one who cherishes or encourages growth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Nurseries [ Cf. F. nourricerie. ] 1. The act of nursing. [ Obs. ] “Her kind nursery.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The place where nursing is carried on; as: (a) The place, or apartment, in a house, appropriated to the care of children. (b) A place where young of any species, plant or animal, are nourished preparatory to transfer elsewhere; especially a place where young trees, shrubs, vines, etc., are propagated for the purpose of transplanting; a plantation of young trees. (c) The place where anything is fostered and growth promoted. “Fair Padua, nursery of arts.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

Christian families are the nurseries of the church on earth, as she is the nursery of the church in heaven. J. M. Mason. [ 1913 Webster ]

(d) That which forms and educates; as, commerce is the nursery of seamen. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is nursed. [ R. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]