Word of the Day: Nurse

nurse / nərs   noun  

1. a person trained in the care of the sick and infirm, especially a licensed health care professional

Constant attention by a good nurse may be just as important as a major operation by a surgeon. Dag Hammarskjold, 1905-1961  

2. a woman who cares for children that are not her own, i.e., dry “

It is the nurse that the child first hears, and her words that he will first attempt to imitate. Quintilian, 35-100  

3. a woman who breastfeeds children that are not biologically hers, i.e., wet “

Ignorance is the wet-nurse of prejudice. Josh Billings, 1818-1885  

4. in entomology, a worker of any type of social insect that cares for the young in the colony

Larvae are confined to a cell, cannot feed themselves, and must signal their needs to adult nurses. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4220115/ verb  

1. to tend to the sick or infirm

I may be compelled to face danger, but never fear it, and while our soldiers can stand and fight, I can stand and feed and nurse them. Clara Barton, 1821-1912  

2. to breastfeed

The baby who doesn’t cry doesn’t get nursed. South American Proverb  

3. to try to cure an ailment oneself

When you are a singer, you have to nurse yourself and make sure you don’t get a cold. Zac Brown, 1978-  

4. to look after carefully so as to provide growth, encouragement, etc.

Sad will be the day when the American people forget their traditions and their history, and no longer remember that the country they love, the institutions they cherish, and the freedom they hope to preserve, were born from the throes of armed resistance to tyranny, and nursed in the rugged arms of fearless men.  Roger Sherman, 1721 – 1793  

5. to suckle to receive nourishment

When you are new at sheep-raising and your ewe has a lamb, your impulse is to stay there and help it nurse and see to it and all. Wendell Berry, 1934-  

6. to hold in consideration

Hatred, in the course of time, kills the unhappy wretch who delights in nursing it in his bosom. Giacomo Casanova, 1725-1798  

7. to consume over a long period

The customers paid him little heed as he nursed a Canadian Club and ginger at the bar. from ‘An Evil Shadow’ by A. J. Davidson, ?-