NURSE

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nurse mean? 

• NURSE (noun)
  The noun NURSE has 2 senses:

1. one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)
2. a woman who is the custodian of children

  Familiarity information: NURSE used as a noun is rare.

• NURSE (verb)
  The verb NURSE has 5 senses:

1. try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury
2. maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)
3. serve as a nurse; care for sick or handicapped people
4. treat carefully
5. give suck to

  Familiarity information: NURSE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NURSE (noun)

Meaning:

One skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("nurse" is a kind of...):

caregiver; health care provider; health professional (a person who helps in identifying or preventing or treating illness or disability)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nurse"):

visiting nurse (a nurse who is paid to visit the sick in their homes)

scrub nurse (a nurse who helps a surgeon prepare for surgery)

registered nurse; RN (a graduate nurse who has passed examinations for registration)

probationer; student nurse (a nurse in training who is undergoing a trial period)

accoucheuse; midwife (a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies)

head nurse; matron (a woman in charge of nursing in a medical institution)

licensed practical nurse; LPN; practical nurse (a nurse who has enough training to be licensed by a state to provide routine care for the sick)

graduate nurse; trained nurse (someone who has completed the course of study (including hospital practice) at a nurses training school)

foster-nurse (a nurse who raises another woman's child as her own)

Instance hyponyms:

Cavell; Edith Cavell; Edith Louisa Cavell (English nurse who remained in Brussels after the German occupation in order to help Allied prisoners escape; was caught and executed by the Germans (1865-1915))

Florence Nightingale; Lady with the Lamp; Nightingale (English nurse remembered for her work during the Crimean War (1820-1910))

Margaret Higgins Sanger; Margaret Sanger; Sanger (United States nurse who campaigned for birth control and planned parenthood; she challenged Gregory Pincus to develop a birth control pill (1883-1966))

Holonyms ("nurse" is a member of...):

nurse-patient relation (the responsibility of a nurse to act in the best interests of the patient)

Meaning:

A woman who is the custodian of children

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

nanny; nursemaid; nurse

Hypernyms ("nurse" is a kind of...):

keeper (someone in charge of other people)

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nurse"):

dry nurse (a nurse who cares for but does not suckle an infant)

mammy (an offensive term for a Black nursemaid in the southern U.S.)

amah; wet nurse; wet-nurse; wetnurse (a woman hired to suckle a child of someone else)

• NURSE (verb)

Meaning:

Try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Context example:

He nursed his cold with Chinese herbs

Hypernyms (to "nurse" is one way to...):

care for; treat (provide treatment for)

Domain category:

medicine; practice of medicine (the learned profession that is mastered by graduate training in a medical school and that is devoted to preventing or alleviating or curing diseases and injuries)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he nurse his foot?

Meaning:

Maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

harbor; nurse; entertain; harbour; hold

Context examples:

bear a grudge / entertain interesting notions / harbor a resentment

Hypernyms (to "nurse" is one way to...):

experience; feel (undergo an emotional sensation)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Meaning:

Serve as a nurse; care for sick or handicapped people

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "nurse" is one way to...):

care; give care (provide care for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Meaning:

Treat carefully

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context examples:

He nursed his injured back by lying in bed several hours every afternoon / He nursed the flowers in his garden and fertilized them regularly

Hypernyms (to "nurse" is one way to...):

do by; handle; treat (interact in a certain way)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Meaning:

Give suck to

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

wet-nurse; lactate; give suck; breastfeed; bottle-feed; suckle; suck; nurse

Context examples:

The wetnurse suckled the infant / You cannot nurse your baby in public in some places

Hypernyms (to "nurse" is one way to...):

feed; give (give food to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody