nurse
(nɜːʳs )
Word forms: nurses , nursing , nursed
1. countable noun & title noun A2
A nurse is a person whose job is to care for people who are ill.
She had spent 29 years as a nurse.
I rang for the nurse and asked for some water.
Synonyms: carer, caregiver, angel [informal]
2. verb
If you nurse someone, you care for them when they are ill.
All the years he was sick, my mother had nursed him. [VERB noun]
She rushed home to nurse her daughter back to health. [V n + back]
Synonyms: look after, treat, tend, care for
3. verb
If you nurse an illness or injury, you allow it to get better by resting as much as possible.
We're going to go home and nurse our colds. [VERB noun]
4. verb
If you nurse an emotion or desire, you feel it strongly for a long time.
Jane still nurses the pain of rejection. [VERB noun]
He had nursed an ambition to lead his own big orchestra. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: harbour, have, maintain, preserve
5. countable noun
A nurse is a person who is trained to look after young children. [old-fashioned]
Every morning she got up early with the children and the nurse.
6. verb
When a baby nurses or when its mother nurses it, it feeds by sucking milk from its mother's breast. [old-fashioned]
Most authorities recommend letting the baby nurse whenever it wants. [VERB]
...young women nursing babies. [VERB noun]
Young people and nursing mothers are exempted from charges. [VERB-ing]
7. See also nursery nurse, nursing, wet nurse
Image of nurse
© Maridav, Shutterstock
Collocations:
employ nurses hire nurses nurse a wound nursed back to qualified nurse recruit nurses senior nurse specialist nurse train nurses trainee nurse
This money might otherwise be used to build new schools, and employ more nurses and doctors.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The hospital's staff bank organises paid overtime for permanent staff and part-time work for nurses not employed by the trust.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Cruise ships employ nurses and paramedics.
The Sun (2014)
Hospital chiefs are hiring nurses from Portugal and Spain because of a shortage of British staff.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Hiring good nurses is difficult.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He hired a nurse to come in three times a week.
Christianity Today (2000)
He said they were more likely to 'nurse the wounded and provide meals for the fighters'.
Times, Sunday Times
Academics are still nursing their wounds after the failure of inflation targeting.
Times, Sunday Times
When war broke out in 1914, she nursed the wounded of both sides, but also sheltered allied soldiers, helping them to escape.
Times, Sunday Times
It was she who nursed his wounds and comforted him, sitting by his side with his head on her chest, stroking his hair.
Times, Sunday Times
I identify with being too thin-skinned for this public world, where it's easy to nurse the wounds while waving away the encouragements.
Christianity Today
The injured males have now been nursed back to full health.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
AN orphaned foal nursed back to health with the help of a teddy bear still sleeps with it after three years.
The Sun (2016)
He is rescued by a wagon train and nursed back to health.
The Sun (2008)
Healthcare assistants are filling in for qualified nurses in a trend that experts warned would put people at risk.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
The person that taught us was a qualified nurse.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
They are also reducing the amount of qualified nurses and teachers.
The Sun (2011)
My trust is recruiting nurses from the Philippines and Portugal, because we do not have enough nursing staff.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Ministers insisted they were doing all they could to recruit home-grown nurses.
The Sun (2015)
He said health trusts were already having problems recruiting nurses.
The Sun (2014)
Senior nurses are working the wards with junior colleagues on a regular basis.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The doctor fetched the senior nurse on call.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Senior nurses are arranging out-of-hours appointments and home visits with great efficiency.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He has a team of specialist nurses who can offer help.
The Sun (2015)
Much of this work is done by specialist nurses.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
When the specialist nurse told us the results of the test he was unmoved.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
At the heart of the problem is a failure to recruit and train enough nurses to maintain staff numbers.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The centre also trains military nurses preparing to go out in the field.
The Sun (2008)
Nurses are trained to be caring and supportive and they are risk averse.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
But a trainee nurse at the hospital wrongly set up the machine administering it.
The Sun (2009)
He is a trainee male nurse, kind and caring and treats me well.
The Sun (2013)
She hopes to qualify as a trainee nurse within a year.
The Sun (2009)
Translations:
Chinese: 护士, 看护
Japanese: 看護師, 看病する
- thank-you card
- thank-you letter
- thank-you note
- that
- thatch
- thatched
- thatched roof
- thatcher
- thatch house
- thatch hut
- thatching
- thatch roof
- that'd
- that is
- that is it
- that is that
- that is/that is to say
- that is to say
- that is to say
- that'll
- that obvious
- that's
- that's all
- that's all she wrote
- that's an end to the matter