nurse

nurse¹ W3S3 [nə:s US nə:rs] n

↑stethoscope

[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: nurice, from Latin nutricius; NUTRITIOUS]

1.) someone 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

2.) old-fashioned a woman employed to look after a young child

= ↑nanny

→↑nursery nurse, ↑wet nurse

nurse ²

nurse² v

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

1¦(sick people)¦

2¦(rest)¦

3¦(feed a baby)¦

4¦(your feelings)¦

5¦(take care of something)¦

6¦(drink)¦

7¦(hold)¦

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Date: 1500-1600; Origin: nursh 'to nourish' (14-16 centuries), from nourish; influenced by NURSE¹]

1.) ¦(SICK PEOPLE)¦

a) [T]

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) [I usually in progressive]

to work as a nurse

▪ She spent several years nursing in a military hospital.

2.) ¦(REST)¦ [T not in passive]

to rest when you have an illness or injury so that it will get better

▪ Shaw has been nursing a sore ankle, and is not expected to play on Sunday.

3.) ¦(FEED A BABY)¦

a) [I and T] old-fashioned if a woman nurses a baby, she feeds it with milk from her breasts

= ↑breastfeed

▪ information on nutrition for nursing mothers

b)

if a baby nurses, it sucks milk from its mother's breast

4.) ¦(YOUR FEELINGS)¦ [T not in passive]

to keep a feeling or idea in your mind for a long time, especially an angry feeling

nurse a grudge/grievance/ambition etc

▪ For years he had nursed a grievance against his former employer.

5.) ¦(TAKE CARE OF SOMETHING)¦ [T]

to take special care of something, especially during a difficult situation

nurse sth through/along etc

▪ He bought the hotel in 1927 and managed to nurse it through the Depression.

6.) ¦(DRINK)¦ [T] [i]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)¦ [T]

literary to hold something carefully in your hands or arms close to your body

▪ a child nursing a kitten