What does "nurse" mean?
A person involved in providing direct care for the sick:; Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession.
Nurse
/nɜːs/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person involved in providing direct care for the sick:; Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession.
- Grammar: nurse is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: nanny, advance, aliment, amah.
- Useful contrasts: abandon, chug, chugging.
- Usage evidence: The nurse took his temperature with a thermometer.
How to use "nurse"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "nurse" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "nurse" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "nurse" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "nurse" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "nurse" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "nanny" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "nurse", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person involved in providing direct care for the sick:; Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession. informal
"My aunt was my nurse while I recuperated at home from surgery."
- 2 A nurse shark or dogfish.
- 3 a woman who is the custodian of children wordnet
- 4 A person involved in providing direct care for the sick:; A medical worker performing this role, typically someone trained to provide such care but having credentials and rank below a doctor or physician assistant.
"The nurse made her rounds through the hospital ward."
- 5 one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician) wordnet
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 A person involved in providing direct care for the sick:; A medical worker, such as a registered nurse, having training, credentials, and rank above a nurse assistant.
- 7 A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s children.
"They hired a nurse to care for their young boy."
- 8 One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters. figuratively
"Eton College has been called "the chief nurse of England's statesmen"."
- 9 A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.
- 10 A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.
- 11 A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.
- 12 A wet nurse. archaic
Verb
- 1 To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle. transitive
"She believes that nursing her baby will make him strong and healthy."
- 2 try to cure by special care of treatment, of an illness or injury wordnet
- 3 To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast. intransitive
- 4 give suck to wordnet
- 5 To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to. transitive
"She nursed him back to health."
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings) wordnet
- 7 To tend gently and with extra care. transitive
"She nursed the rosebush and that season it bloomed."
- 8 treat carefully wordnet
- 9 To manage or oversee (something) with care and economy. transitive
- 10 serve as a nurse; care for sick or handicapped people wordnet
- 11 To drink (a beverage) slowly, so as to make it last. informal, transitive
"Rob was nursing a small beer."
- 12 To cultivate or persistently entertain (an attitude, usually negative) in one's mind; to brood or obsess over. figuratively, transitive
"to nurse a grudge"
- 13 To hold closely to one's chest. transitive
"Would you like to nurse the puppy?"
- 14 To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots. transitive
"It is to our interest to let Lee and Johnston come together, just as a billiard-player would nurse the balls when he has them in a nice place"
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"The nurse took his temperature with a thermometer."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "nurse"?
Common synonyms include: nanny, advance, aliment, amah, apprentice, attend.
How do you use "nurse" in a sentence?
The nurse took his temperature with a thermometer.
How do you pronounce "nurse"?
Pronounced /nɜːs/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”).
Etymology 2
Uncertain; earlier (16th century) nusse, nuse. Perhaps from huss, through metanalysis of "an huss" as "a nuss".