| 释义 |
nurseryn.adj. Origin: Formed within English, by derivation; perhaps modelled on a French lexical item. Etymons: nourice n., -ery suffix. Etymology: < nourice n. + -ery suffix, perhaps after Middle French nourricerie (1334).With the β forms (with loss of medial -i- , -y- ) compare nurse n.1 In form norshery (see quot. 1440 at sense A. 1a) after nursh n. (compare forms s.v.). A. n. I. A place for nursing or fostering. 1. society > education > upbringing > [noun] > nursery society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of occupant > [noun] > room for children c1330 (?c1300) (Auch.) (1937) 2270 (MED) Þe douke wel fast gan aspie Þe kays of þe noricerie [v.rr. norserye]..Þer þat his childer were. (Harl. 221) 358 Norysrye [v.r. norshery], where yonge chyldur arn kept. c1450 (a1400) (Calig. A.ii) (1969) 903 Elene þe messengere Semeþ but a lauendere Of her norserye. 1532 G. Hervet tr. Xenophon f. 31 v I shewed her the nourceie & the womens lodgynge, diuided from the mens lodgynge. 1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger I. ii. v. sig. K.vjv/1 For there is mention made of..nourceries for children. a1616 W. Shakespeare (1623) i. i. 59 He had two Sonnes..[who] from their Nursery Were stolne. View more context for this quotation 1641 J. Jackson ii. 162 Are wee the Lambs and Kids of Gods fold,..the Babes of his Nursery? 1728 J. Swift (1729) ix. 90 He is taught from the Nursery, that he must inherit a great Estate. 1745 E. Haywood IV. 304 It is a great Misfortune, when young Ladies, who have scarce quitted the Nursery, think them selves Women. 1785 W. Cowper Tirocinium in 117 Our parents..wisely store the nurs'ry by degrees With wholesome learning. View more context for this quotation 1803 9 529 Female domestics, and the inhabitants of the nursery, seldom escaped its influence. 1847 C. Brontë I. v. 67 She had lit a fire in the nursery, where she now proceeded to make my breakfast. 1915 W. S. Maugham iii. 8 She sent him into the nursery to gather up his toys. 1942 N. Streatfeild 20 That little bit of the room at the top must have been a nursery once, there's some Mickie Mouses on that wallpaper. 1991 E. Barker (1992) i. 5 The nursery in the attic overlooked the sea and Janet slept to the sound of foghorns booming out in icy waters. society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of occupant > [noun] > room for women 1572 J. Higgins (rev. ed.) Nourisherie, gynæceum. 1611 R. Cotgrave Chambre des femmes, a Nurserie, or priuat roome onely for women. 1929 Apr. 105/3 The Guidance Nursery lacks many of the characteristics of a school, and yet it is designed to be an educational tool. 1953 27 Feb. 42/2 Next year will mark the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the first co-op nursery in this country. 1980 P. Clift et al. iii. 23 Of the 40 nurseries studied nine were nursery schools and 31 were nursery classes attached to primary schools. 1999 M. Syal (2000) ii. 83 I got called Auntie for the first time recently, by one of Nikita's little friends from nursery. 2. the world > existence and causation > causation > source or origin > [noun] > place of origin and early development 1509 A. Barclay (Pynson) f. cxxiii What els is daunsynge but euen a nurcery..to purchace and meyntayne In yonge hertis the vyle synne of rybawdry. ?1577 J. Northbrooke 140 It is the storehouse and nurserie of Bastardie. 1583 G. Babington v. 220 [Cloisters] became as we well know dens of drones, and nurceries of vngodlinesse. 1601 T. Wright iv. 34 Passions..be the nurcerie of vices, and pathway to all wickednesse. 1654 R. Whitlock 235 The Press..is Truths Armory, The Bank of Knowledge, and Nursery of Religion. 1683 42 A certain Tavern in Covent Garden..was..a great Nursery of Gallantry. 1724 G. Berkeley 5 Till a nursery of learning for the education of the natives is founded. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 59 119 Great towns..become..nurseries of debauchery and voluptuousness. 1801 G. Huddesford 106 The Whig Club, of worth patriotic the nursery, He gratis had shav'd on their grand anniversary. 1846 J. Keble (1848) xiii. 322 The other calamities..have been a great field and nursery for saintly hope. 1894 H. Drummond 383 Family Life, the first and last nursery of the higher sympathies. 1923 15 Mar. 513/4 To be photographed and paragraphed and advertised in order to be ‘seen of men’ becomes a common nursery of egotism and vain-glory. 1949 215/2 His office became noted as a nursery of genius. 1990 J. Paxman (BNC) At Oxford..he ran both the Conservative Club and the Union. Even in such a nursery of ambition Rees-Mogg stood out. society > education > place of education > [noun] 1581 R. Mulcaster xli. 258 This colledge for teachers, might prooue an excellent nurserie for good schoolemaisters. a1599 E. Spenser View State Ireland 110 in J. Ware (1633) This keeping of Cowes, is of it selfe a very idle life, and a fit nurserie for a Thiefe. a1618 W. Raleigh (1661) 198 A continual Nursery for breeding and encreasing our Mariners. 1654 R. Whitlock 95 In this Nursery..of Charlatans, or Mountebanks (as Doctor Primrose justly calleth England). 1701 W. Wotton 455 The Equestrian Order was the proper Nursery of the Senate. 1715 M. Davies 18 The College of St. Mary the Virgin, a Nursery belonging then unto the Canon Regulars of the Order of St. Austin at Oxford. 1777 J. Priestley Ded. p. ix This world, we see, is an admirable nursery for great minds. 1839 C. Thirlwall VI. li. 258 His little kingdom was now chiefly valuable to him as a nursery of soldiers. 1876 E. A. Freeman V. 135 Under William Rufus the Chancery became a nursery of clever and unscrupulous churchmen. 1946 S. T. Felstead i. 12 They constituted the nursery for most of the famous artistes we have know for fifty or sixty years past, the men and women whose names will never be forgotten. 1969 J. Gross v. 132 As they widened their horizons, the older universities were proving at least as much a training-ground for journalists as a nursery for philosophers. 1989 I. Morrison (BNC) 9 Formula Two soon became..a nursery for the leading Formula One drivers of the future. society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > [noun] > specific theatre 1664 S. Pepys 2 Aug. (1971) V. 230 Tom Killigrew..is setting up a Nursery; that is, is going to build a house in Moore fields wherein he will have common plays acted. 1672 Duke of Buckingham ii. 15 I am resolv'd, hereafter, to bend all my thoughts for the service of the Nursery, and mump your proud Players, I gad. 1683 J. Oldham 179 Then slighted by the very Nursery, May'st thou at last be forc'd to starve, like me. society > leisure > sport > training > [noun] > training establishment 1948 21 May 2/1 Joined the Hampshire nursery staff in 1939 and made his county debut in 1946. 1954 F. C. Avis 76 Nursery, a club in which boxing talent is developed. 1961 F. C. Avis 36/1 Nursery, a junior club taken under the wing of a bigger club to which talented nursery players graduate. 3. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > [noun] > nursery the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > bed or plot > nursery plot 1556 J. Withals (new ed.) sig. Hiv/1 A nourserye, or place, wherein groweth, or be kepte to increase yonge vines or trees, seminarium. 1565 T. Cooper Nutrix, a nourcerie or place where men plante and graffe trees or hearbes, to thende afterward to remoue them. 1622 J. Bonoeil Treat. Art of making Silke 34 in King James VI & I How to prepare the seed of Mulbery trees to make a Nurcery. 1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 59 in Set up your Traps for Vermin; especially in your Nurseries of Kernels and Stones. 1684–9 in A. H. Millar (1890) 34 The whole bounds of the kitchen yeard and nouricerie below the house. 1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville 178 The Seed and young Plants you set in a Nursery. 1751 S. Johnson No. 112. ⁋3 A plant transplanted to northern nurseries. 1808 (Royal Soc.) 98 315 A nursery of apple trees. 1860 R. Hogg Pref. p. iii A Manual of Fruits, which..included most of the varieties found in nurseries and private gardens. 1908 G. H. Lorimer 271 There were..dairies and henneries, and conservatories and graperies, and shrubberies and nurseries. 1937 Apr. 98/4 For quick results buy at a nursery, which always has a supply of young trees with a good ‘ball’ of vigorous roots. 1998 5 Apr. i. 34/2 Buy packs of cold-hardy annuals like stock, snapdargon and pansies at a nursery. 1609 W. Shakespeare i. iii. 313 The seeded pride, That hath to this maturity blowne vp..must or now be cropt, Or shedding breede a noursery of like euill. View more context for this quotation 1653 R. Baxter Ep. Ded. When Satan hath a design to burn up those Nurseries, you are watering God's plants. 1719–20 J. Swift (1721) 23 Extracts of Theological and Moral Sentences..intended for Materials or Nurseries to stock future Sermons. 1820 W. Wordsworth iii. ii Ye sacred Nurseries of blooming Youth! 1877 W. Sparrow xvi. 207 This world was meant to be only a nursery for the garden of the Lord of heaven. 1882 Mar. 569/2 America is the seed-ground and nursery of new ideals, where they can grow in a larger, freer air than ours. a1909 G. Meredith (1919) 187 Clear Wisdom found in tended Nature's lap Of gentlemen the happy nursery. 1998 W. N. Herbert 84 I piece my ancestors' childhoods together, smoothing out their wrinkles.., planting darker nurseries of hair. the world > food and drink > farming > farm > farmland > grassland > [noun] > left uncut in summer 1780 A. Young (Dublin ed.) II. 86 The winter food..is to keep bottom lands through the summer, which they call a nursery, to which they bring the cattle down from the mountains when the weather becomes severe. 4. the world > animals > by habitat > habitat > [noun] > breeding-ground > where life is developed 1599 T. Nashe 22 How to bring it about fitter I knew not, then in the praise of the red herring, whose proper soile and nursery it [sc. Yarmouth] is. 1661 E. Hickeringill 13 Nor are the Woods a more Plentiful Nursery for the Hoggs then the Savana's are for the Beeves and wild Cattel. 1689 J. Locke i. vi. 71 The dens of Lions and Nurseries of Wolves. 1705 (Royal Soc.) 24 1861 This invited those Flyes to make their way to it [sc. a decaying tree], as a proper Nursery to bring up their young ones. 1745 396 Peach Trees..which are Nurseries of Muskettos and other Vermin. 1806 P. Neill 25 The Brough..is the resort and nursery of hundreds of scauries, or herring-gulls (larus fuscus). 1871 T. R. Jones (ed. 4) v. §198. 93 The swimming-bell is converted into a chamber or nursery in which the embryo passes through its early stages of development. 1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. VIII. 762 The persistence of dry seborrhœa on the scalp appears to convert that part into a nursery of various kinds of microbes. 1923 June 618 The hatching and growth of the larva stimulates the plant to the growth of this gall, which serves as a sort of nursery for the developing animal. 1936 F. S. Russell & C. M. Yonge (ed. 2) iv. 84 Their eggs and young [sc. of plaice] are drifted by the prevalent currents on to the so-called ‘nurseries’ in the shallow, sandy bottomed regions along the coasts of Holland. 1991 C. Tudge (BNC) 55 They [sc. mangroves] are extremely important components of the tropical scene; rich in species and serving as nesting sites and nurseries for birds and fish. the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > eggs or young > [noun] > young or development of young > larva > cells where maturity is attained 1781 (Royal Soc.) 71 156 They [sc. termites] are always adding to it by building more chambers and nurseries. 1797 XVIII. 387/1 The most striking parts of these structures are, the royal apartments, the nurseries. 1816 W. Kirby & W. Spence (1818) II. xvii. 33 The office of..conveying the eggs when laid to what Smeathman calls the nurseries. 1830 J. Rennie xvi. 296 When the nest [of ants] is in the infant state, the nurseries are close to the royal chambers. 1868 2 42 At another time I witnessed the pillage of a nursery of other ants by a quite numerous band of Workers minores of No. 68. 1935 4 26 If one opens a nest [of ants] in summer the ‘nurseries’ are found to be only covered by a thin layer of soil. 1956 37 252/2 The construction of a royal cell and the concentration of eggs and young nymphs in nurseries also suggested controlled conditions in special portions of the nest. 1990 6 300 Within the mounds,..excess N and P are incorporated in galleries, foraging passages, nurseries and fungal combs. 5. the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > fish-keeping, farming, or breeding > [noun] > fish-pond or -tank 1772 (Royal Soc.) 61 320 The nurseries are the second kind of ponds intended for the bringing up the young fry. 1830 M. Donovan II. iii. 197 There ought in fact to be three ponds, a spawning pond, a nursery, and a pond for adult fish. 1868 W. Peard v. 61 The instinct which carries the fish to the highest tributaries teaches us the importance of improving and creating such nurseries. 1916 14 Apr. 532/1 The fish nursery and ponds will be available to the college for the instruction of its students. 1958 6 June 1327/2 He kept on breeding fish experimentally... His garden was traversed by small meandering canals which provided clean water for his nursery. 1982 (Royal Soc.) A. 307 372 Adult Artemia are collected from the evaporation ponds and are directly fed to the post-larval shrimp in the nursery. 1918 in E. L. D. Seymour I. xxiii. 237/2 (caption) Corner of nursery pen [for pigeons] showing perches attached to wall and to roof beams. 1929 J. M. Hazelton i. ix. 31 Perhaps greater ones would have emanated from this famous Hereford nursery had there been more concentration and less mixing of blood. 1991 (BNC) 26 July 64 Weaners in the piglet nursery..come under the watchful eye of John Knighton, the farm's head stockperson. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > types of racing > types of race 1860 15 Jan. 4/3 She ran with Sir William for the Nursery Handicap, at Shrewsbury. 1883 26 Oct. (Cassell) Winning three nurseries off the reel. 1922 21 Nov. 11 As additional excitements to the hectic finishes one horse was killed and the judge mistook the winner of the Leycester Nursery. 1988 26 May 53/6 Elegant Lass..and Rhapsody in Red..are two others who I can see winning—perhaps in a nursery later on. society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > positions of balls 1869 J. Roberts & H. Buck 135 Nursery, when the three balls are within an inch or two of one another, and a long score is likely. 1885 (1889) 125 To play for a series of cannons, moving the balls as little as possible, such series being called ‘a nursery of cannons’. 1904 J. P. Mannock vi. 250 Now and again some of the leading lights of the professsional world dispense a sequence—or, as it is called, a ‘nursery’—of the ‘close cannons,’ with which the Continental and American pocketless form of billiards is replete. 1956 (‘Know the Game’ Ser.) (1968) 16/2 Only by close cannon play (also called ‘nursery cannons’ or ‘nurseries’) can such a sequence be made. †II. Other senses. 8. society > education > upbringing > [noun] the world > people > person > baby or infant > [adverb] > suckling c1400 (c1300) (BL Add.) (1887) 8938 (MED) Norcery [c1325 Calig. Quene Mold..þe wule heo was ȝong to norisy was ido In þe abbeye of rameseye]. a1439 J. Lydgate (Bodl. 263) vii. 197 On of his childre beyng at norcery..His knihtes slouh. 1584 R. Wilson ii My birth, nurserie, and bringing vp hitherto, hath bene in Rome. 1608 W. Shakespeare i. 116 I lou'd her most, and thought to set my rest On her kind nurcery. 1653 H. Whistler 69 Allaying the tedious nights, and carefull daies of Nursery. a1671 M. Casaubon (1672) 199 Two brothers preserved by the milk and nursery of a she-wolf. society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > motherhood > [noun] > relation of foster-mother c1613 (1860) 17 An old impudent drabb..that can alleadge either kindred, alliance, nurserie, or some affinity or other, with all men. the world > people > person > baby or infant > [noun] > suckling 1642 T. Fuller ii. xv. 106 The thriving of the nourcery, is the best argument to prove the skill and care of the nource. 1650 T. Fuller ii. viii. 177 A jolly dame.., as appears by the well battling of the plump boy her nursery. B. adj. ( attributive). 1739 G. Ogle 106 Vain talk for Children! Nursery Cant of Sprites! 1796 Bp. R. Watson (1799) x. 379 They presently get rid of their nursery faith, and are seldom sedulous in the acquisition of another. 1851 H. Giles I. 111 If he [sc. Byron] hoped his deception to be successful, he must have ranked them by the standard of nursery superstitions. 1875 J. Ingelow xiv. 167 You have still a little nursery English left about you, John. 1900 Jan. 128/2 ‘Frog-eating Johnnie’ was a nursery synonym for a Frenchman. 1967 A. Carter vi. 122 She had not seen where the night light came from. It burned with a pure and nursery flame in a blue and white saucer filled with matchsticks. 1975 D. Bloodworth xxiv. 234 Rocking-chair revolutionaries peddling nursery economics. Compounds C1. (In sense A. 1a.) a. 1949 ‘J. Tey’ xii. 94 You can have the nursery bathroom all to yourself, but do go slow on the hot water, will you? 1991 B. Leigh 22 I went indoors and up to the nursery bathroom where I could hear David's bath running already. 1893 Feb. 242/2 Imagine, then, the interest of waking very early..and seeing a light reflected on the ceiling of the Nursery bedroom from somewhere far below. 1990 P. Scobie (BNC) 127 Jackie indicated the door outside which the candle burned. ‘This is one of the nursery bedrooms.’ society > communication > book > kind of book > [noun] > children's book 1818 J. Keats 23 Jan. (1958) I. 210 I was at Hunt's the other day, and he surprised me with a real authenticated Lock of Milton's Hair. I know you would like what I wrote thereon—so here it is—as they say of a Sheep in a Nursery Book. 1870 R. W. Emerson 229 The very nursery-books, the ballads which delight boys. 1994 7 July 10/1 Chicken Little was the hen in the nursery books who thought the sky was falling in. 1837 3 273 Spying out a low nursery chair that stood by the hearth, he drew it close to Mr. Crawford. 1896 153 Nursery Chair, low cane seat and high back. 1988 N. Lowndes iv. 173 Boris's eldest son was sitting on a low nursery chair outside his parents' room. 1817 J. Austen 13 Mar. (1995) 333 When Caroline was sent to School some years, Miss Bell was still retained, though the others were then mere Nursery Children. 1878 T. Hardy II. iii. i. 74 What the Greeks only suspected we know well; what their Æschylus imagined our nursery children feel. 1973 22 May 13/1 Nanny's pride, the nursery child, ringletted, smocked and sashed, is no more. 1855 C. M. Yonge p. iii The proposal to draw up a Life of Tom Thumb..would have seemed a presumptuous interference with nursery classics. 1959 687/2 Her books..were soon established as nursery classics and were translated into many languages. 1998 N. Lawson (1999) 476 Naturally, cheese sauce can be used to cover a cooked head of small cauliflower: in other words, that other nursery classic, cauliflower cheese. 1854 G. A. Sala in 4 Feb. 545/2 Bogey..dwells in the coal-cellar or the nursery-cupboard to this day. 1992 C. Bingham (BNC) 39 She climbed on to a chair and put the doll on top of the nursery cupboard. 1718 M. Prior vii The Devil..stands before the Nurs'ry Doors, To take the naughty Boy that roars. 1865 C. Dickens II. iv. xiii. 274 Mr. Boffin, submitting to be led on tiptoe to the nursery door, looked in with immense satisfaction. 1987 Z. Tomin ii. 57 She..stood looking at the nursery door. The breathing of six children was clearly audible. 1863 Mar. 292/2 Seeing Mary's arm on the top of the great nursery fender, Loo..thrust little Mary violently away with a sob of passion. 1913 C. Mackenzie I. i. i. 10 Round the fire was a nursery fender on which hung perpetually various cloths and clothes and blankets and sheets. 1999 (Nexis) 16 Jan. 20 I used to wash the nappies by hand and hang them on a big nursery fender round the fire to dry. 1968 P. Dickinson vii. 142 A good old-fashioned attic, where people have been putting things..picture frames and nursery fireguards and broken deck-chairs. 1988 M. Keane (BNC) 56 She leaned over the high nursery fireguard. 1949 A. Christie v. 29 Proper wholesome nursery food—not those queer spiced rice dishes. 1985 28/2 Nursery food, such as fish cakes, fish pie and egg and bacon. 1836 C. G. F. Gore I. xx. 301 Mrs. Armytage, whose thoughts were engrossed by the splendid nursery-furniture and nursery-suits she had that morning received from town for the use of the little heir of Holywell. 1963 Jan. 13 A drop-side cot is probably used more continuously than any other piece of nursery furniture. 2002 (Electronic ed.) 2 May There..[was] nursery furniture to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over, and a constant supply of vanilla honey chamomile tea. society > education > teaching > teacher > [noun] > professional teacher > governess 1814 5 Aug. 3/3 She had also lived in a family as nursery governess. 1884 J. Hall 58 Family arrangements will have to be different where nursery-governesses and tutors are called in. 1995 34 212 Before James Balfour's final illness, Lady Blanche herself taught her older children, to supplement the work of the nursery governess. 1908 23 Oct. 6/6 ‘Nursery minders’ to look after infants at a creche in connection with a Bermondsey school are being appointed by the London County Council. society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > children's song society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > light poem > [noun] > nursery-rhyme c1810 (title) Gammer Gurton's garland of nursery songs. 1927 W. E. Collinson 9 I mention these nursery-songs. 1971 A. Mizener xxvi. 358 Ford led them in a round dance on the [Avignon] bridge to the tune of the nursery song. 1814 W. Scott p. ii Children..cannot endure that a nursery story should be repeated to them differently from the manner in which it was first told. 1847 W. M. Thackeray (1848) xxv. 219 It was as in the old nursery-story, when the stick forgot to beat the dog. 1966 B. Ireson (title) The Faber book of nursery stories. 1857 C. M. Yonge II. xii. 186 She often comes down after our dinner to find something for the nursery supper. 1971 J. Drummond xxi. 117 I was given a huge nursery supper by old Bertha. society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > narrative or story > types of narrative or story generally > [noun] > story for young children 1741 S. Richardson IV. lxiv. 451 You desired me to send you a little Specimen of my Nursery Tales and Stories, with which..I entertain..my little Boys. 1871 4 21 Legends grew as nursery tales grow now. 1975 S. Lauder ii. 14 Some anthropomorphic character from a nursery tale. 1762 L. Sterne V. xix. 83 The corporal..had taken the two leaden weights from the nursery window. 1828 M. R. Mitford III. 165 A certain..Sophy, who died..by falling out of the nursery-window. 1990 B. Raskin i. 7 Daddy dressed me..before taking me to Swedish Hospital so I could peer through the newborns' nursery window at my only sibling. b. 1875 Ld. Tennyson ii. ii. 84 The nursery-cocker'd child will jeer at aught That may seem strange beyond his nursery. C2. (In sense A. 3a.) a. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > bed or plot > nursery plot 1669 (Royal Soc.) 4 902 When I transplant Melons from the Nursery-bed, I put commonly two roots together, except I find one very strong, which I then plant alone. 1719 G. London & H. Wise (ed. 7) 215 To place them near together afterward in another Nursery-Bed, and cover them up with long Litter. 1880 C. R. Markham x. 398 A large number of seedlings were raised in nursery-beds and in the propagating-house during 1872. 1994 30 July 8/1 Thin crowding wallflowers, myosotis and other spring-blooming biennial seedlings in nursery beds. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > [noun] > nursery the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > bed or plot > nursery plot 1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Dict. in sig. Bii Pomace, is the mash which remains of pressed Apples, after the Sider is made, used for producing of Seedling Stocks in Nursery-Gardens. 1757 (Royal Soc.) 49 866 Mr. Christopher Gray's nursery garden at Fulham. 1887 C. A. Moloney 70 The establishment of Botanic Stations, Model Farms, or Nursery-gardens. 1969 S. Hill (BNC) 109 Why should Kathleen not visit the nursery garden, why had it been necessary to make the explanation about the geranium plants? the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > gardener > [noun] > types of gardener 1629 J. Parkinson ii. xii. 574 Iohn Tradescantes Cherrie is most vsually sold by our Nursery Gardiners, for the Archdukes cherrie, because they have more plenty thereof. 1766 (at cited word) All good nursery-gardeners shift and change their land, from time to time. 1859 Apr. 302/1 There are the florists and nursery-gardeners,—not infrequently quakers. 1982 76 700 One [case] of particular interest held that Dutch nursery gardeners could obtain relief in a Dutch court against a French potash company. 1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie i. iii. ix. 139 With the hazard of incurring the displeasure of a great many of our Nursery Mongers. 1861 ‘G. Eliot’ xvii. 317 Seated at the meal where the little heads rise one above another like nursery plants. 1923 9 Feb. 167/1 The insect pests and fungus diseases which make plant propagating difficult and the distribution of small nursery plants so dangerous in the tropics can be kept under control on this coast of Florida. 1978 (Nexis) 7 May b1 Wilkerson, whose nursery plants suffered serious damage, is among thousands of area residents trying to salvage their favourite greenery from the ravages of the last two winters. 1863 Apr. 483/1 We forbear to state our impression of the number of acres, covered by nursery-stock. 1902 W. G. Johnson xi. 97 A fumigatorium is a house or room constructed or adapted for the fumigation of nursery stock or other materials. 1991 (Royal Hort. Soc.) Jan. 14/1 The development of containerisation of nursery stock for the emerging garden centre industry in the early 1960s..resulted in the appearance of loamless composts. the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > cultivated or valued > [noun] > cultivated in a nursery or pot 1707 J. Mortimer (1721) II. 40 They are manag'd like other Nursery Trees, and may, when they are big enough, be planted out for Walks or other occasions. 1845 S. Judd ii. i. 214 Large fields, planted as it would seem to mulleins like nursery trees with silvery leaves, rising into tall gold-tipped pinnacles. 1984 (Nexis) 7 Oct. f54 Many container grown nursery trees require some support when they are planted in a landscape. b. 1876 I. 46 Quercus pedunculata.—Seedlings and nursery-grown, two years and up to eight years old. 1928 Aug. 574/1 (advt.) You can now obtain nursery-grown Rhododendrons, Kalmias, Mountain Andromeda, the dainty Leucothoe. 1996 (Electronic ed.) 16 June Renew conventional runner-grown plants with their own runner clones captured in hanging pots, or from a bundle of nursery-grown plants. C3. 1928 22 647 To close permanently two ‘nursery areas’ populated by small, immature halibut. 1977 No. 62. 5 The vast continental shelf of the southeastern Bering Sea..is a major nursery area for Pacific halibut. 1991 R. S. K. Barnes & K. H. Mann (ed. 2) i. 11/1 The fertilized eggs are released in an area where the prevailing currents will carry them, during development, to areas of high plankton and/or benthos production, known as the nursery areas. 1893 17 May 5/2 He seems to depend almost entirely on nursery cannons, with little taste for hazards. 1931 11 Jan. 25/3 Scoring chiefly at the top of the table, he made runs of 50, 60, 62, and 102 nursery cannons. 2001 (Nexis) 17 June t17 One can but speculate on what Mrs Billington Greig, the graceful billiards exponent, thought..as she scanned The Scotsman during a break from her nursery cannons. society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [noun] > division of pupils > form or class 1863 Jan. 277/2 The first nursery-class in arithmetic may eliminate from those figures the number of our years. 1921 c. 51 §21 Supplying..nursery schools (which expression shall include nursery classes) for children over two or under five years of age. 1992 16 Jan. 17/2 As many children as possible are being rushed through the nursery class, and four-year-olds are being admitted early to reception classes. 1849 in P. H. Myers (1850) 32 It is no dry disquisition upon diet and medicines, but has for its topic nursery education in every branch. 1938 P. E. Cusden xvii. 257 The general provision of facilities for nursery education. 1981 H. Jolly (new ed.) xxi. 291 Do not expect your child to start learning to read and write. This is not what nursery education is about. society > education > upbringing > [noun] > one who brings up > nurse a1812 J. Baillie ii. v. 409 Ha, ha, ha! does the political Lady Sarah think to put off her troublesome nursery girl upon Crafty Supplecoat. 1861 C. M. Yonge xii. 193 She..suspected Rhoda, the little nursery-girl, who was quite a child, and had not long been in the house. 1992 R. Campbell (BNC) 289 Thank God the bar would be open soon, then she could leave Anna with the nursery girls; that was what they were here for. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > bed or plot > nursery plot 1789 H. L. Piozzi I. 335 They were watering.., just as we do in a nursery-ground about London. 1869 Ann. Rep. Commissioner Agric. 1868 252 in (40th Congr., 3rd Sess.: House of Representatives Executive Doc.) XV Suitable for vegetable and flower gardens, and nursery grounds. 1929 A. T. Quiller-Couch tr. Hesiod 182 He..smashes them [sc. trees] in mountain glens flat on their nursery ground. 1991 15 June 35/2 The plight of Florida's lemon shark..largely reflects the loss of a key habitat, the local mangroves which serve as nursery grounds for lemon shark pups. the mind > language > a language > dialect > [noun] > baby or infants' language 1826 B. Disraeli II. iv. i. 157 He advises the Catholics, in the old nursery language, to behave like good boys—to open their mouths, and shut their eyes, and see what God will send them. 1925 O. Jespersen vii. 145 Another dialect used with regard to the person addressed is that more or less affected nursery-language which many mothers and nurses..use with small children—where ‘stomach’ is ‘tum-tum’, ‘horse’ is ‘gee-gee’, ‘thank-you’ is ‘ta’ etc. 1968 107 The special structures and lexical items employed by adults when talking to young children, which we can conveniently group together under the label of Nursery Language. a1854 C. B. Southey Birthday iii, in (1867) 89 True, but just finished was my nursery meal—Dry bread and milk and water. 1942 M. B. Lowndes 15 Apr. (1971) 229 Many people..live in their country houses with relations, children, and so on. I know of one where there are three sets of nursery meals! 1953 H. Nicolson 6 May (1968) III. 240 Dull nursery meals—beef, mutton, and milk-puddings. society > education > upbringing > [noun] > one who brings up > nurse 1494 King Henry VIII Ordinance 31 Dec. in (1790) 127 The [royal] child..shall be nourished with a Ladie governour to the nursery nurse. 1947 A. B. Meering 1 The Nursery Nurse who prefers the care of individual children..may become a nanny in a private family. 1967 V. C. Jones in P. J. Cunningham 13 Nursery nurses..care for the young child in its earliest and most impressionable years. 1986 25 Mar. 9/5 If I thought of a job it was a nursery nurse—always something to do with babies. society > education > upbringing > [noun] > one who brings up > nurse > office or duties of 1967 P. J. Cunningham (title) Nursery nursing. 1972 30 Aug. 11/3 Norland..describes nursery nursing as a growing profession. 1990 A. Morton-Cooper (BNC) 16 Health visitors who study for a further education teacher's certificate can be employed as curriculum planners and lecturers on nursery nursing courses. 1855 Jan. 72/2 The Nursery Pudding. Slice some white bread, without crust; pour scalding milk on it; let it stand until well soaked, then beat it well with four eggs, a little sugar, and grated nutmeg. 1980 7 Nov. 1258/3 If nursery puddings, Tolkienian fantasy and public school cuddles are anything to do with politics at all, they are slightly more identifiable with the Right. 2002 (Nexis) 2 Feb. 11 The school chef anticipated Gary Rhodes's love affair with nursery puddings by several decades. Highlights of the week were reverend mother's leg, a version of spotted dick. society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poem or piece of poetry > light poem > [noun] > nursery-rhyme 1806 A. Taylor & J. Taylor (title) Rhymes for the nursery.] 1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf xii, in 1st Ser. I. 244 My cousin Ellieslaw, who speaks treason as if it were child's nursery rhymes. 1881 J. P. Mahaffy ii. 23 There is hardly a word left of the nursery rimes. 1989 27 May 2 Looking after my three-year-old grandson for the night, I put him to bed and lay beside him telling him nursery rhymes so he'd fall asleep. society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > nursery school 1835 D. W. Webber Let. in I. Butler (1973) i. ii. 29 It was..in the year 1765 that Lord Wellesley was brought to school... It was quite a nursery school... As a kind of Preparatory School it was in great Fashion. 1891 E. Michaelis & H. K. Moore tr. F. W. A. Froebel 30 He [sc. Froebel] thinks of christening it ‘Nursery School for Little Children’ or ‘Self-teaching Institution’. 1958 24 Oct. 303/1 His [sc. Gaitskell's] back-benchers still belong to the nursery school of political manœuvre. 1996 H. Fielding (1997) 69 Story in papers about two-year-olds having to take tests to get into nursery school just made me jump out of skin. society > education > [noun] > systematic education > education at school > at nursery school 1974 14 Oct. 4/1 Mrs. Thatcher introduced a £34m programme in 1971..to make nursery schooling available to half the three to five age group by 1980. 1992 8 Aug. 64/1 Providing unimaginative guarding of latch-key kids rather than nursery schooling. society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > winter sports > skiing > [noun] > ski slope or run 1924 K. Furse p. vi Every beginner should be content to devote two or three of his first days to the Nursery slopes. 1943 J. L. Hunt & A. G. Pringle 47 Nursery slopes, the easy targets allotted to beginners on bombing tests. 1994 Oct. (Ski Holidays 95 Suppl.) 4/2 A small collection of Tyrolean resorts..offers some slopes that are pleasantly tame and ideally suited to beginners and those who have recently progressed beyond the nursery slopes. 1860 W. M. Thackeray Lovel the Widower iii, in Mar. 335 Get the table ready for nussery tea. 1888 R. Kipling 4 Miss T. Won't you have some eggs? Captain G... Eggs! (Aside.) Oh Hades! She must have a nursery-tea at this hour. 1939 T. S. Eliot i. i. 17 Harry must often have remembered Wishwood—The nursery tea, the school holiday. 1990 Sept. 169 (advt.) Memories of a long afternoon's absorbing play, of nursery tea with hot buttered toast. 1853 Oct. 343 Fable and story-book are ever the favourite nursery teachers as well of nations as of children. 1977 (Nexis) 10 Sept. d1 Because of resignations and retirements no kindergarten or nursery teachers were fired. 2000 11 May 11/3 60 per cent of women are still employed in the 10 ‘feminised indutries’, which include..care assistants and primary and nursery teachers. 1892 1 624 The doctrine of an innate conscience in morals, as opposed to the pure associationist doctrine of nursery-teaching. 1975 13 Nov. 658/3 The assumption that nursery teaching is a female profession. 1929–30 No. 99. Index p. xlii/6 Nursery..ware, ‘Bandalasta’. 1951 (H.M.S.O.) 124/1 Nursery ware; Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. 1992 14 Nov. 39/6 Besides nurseryware, best known for bone china tea sets with triangular handles. the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > word > [noun] > other specific types of word 1853 F. D. Maurice (ed. 2) 472 Is it nothing that they should seem to them mere idle nursery-words that frighten children? 1933 L. Bloomfield ix. 157 In English almost any doubled syllable may be used, in almost any meaning, as a nursery-word. 1957 R. W. Zandvoort (new ed.) ix. i. 287 Many of them are nursery words... Georgy-Porgy, piggie-wiggie, tootsy-wootsies (feet), etc. Derivatives society > education > upbringing > [noun] > nursery > collectively 1869 J. H. Ewing (1896) 36b The dissipating and destructive days of Nurserydom. 1892 14 May 2/1 They are little suited to the ways of English nurserydom. the world > people > person > child > [noun] > children collectively 1879 Mar. 342/2 There is inconsistency in realizing a touching love-scene while a nurseryful of children are clamoring for bread. 1886 H. F. Lester 195 He was multitudinously a married man having a nurseryful of children. 1978 2 Nov. 14/3 Posterity is fortunate in having inherited her novels rather than a nurseryful of children who might now be in their second century under Hampshire gravestones. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online June 2022). nurseryv. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: nursery n. poetic. rare. the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [verb (transitive)] > rear plant in nursery 1885 R. Bridges i. i. 1 The land..Where first Demeter nurseried her wheat. a1998 A. C. Rich Lett. to Young Poet in (1999) 27 The onset of your fear Kicking away their lush and slippery flora nurseried In liquid glass. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.adj.c1330 v.1885 |
