nurse
verb/nɜːs/
/nɜːrs/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they nurse | /nɜːs/ /nɜːrs/ |
| he / she / it nurses | /ˈnɜːsɪz/ /ˈnɜːrsɪz/ |
| past simple nursed | /nɜːst/ /nɜːrst/ |
| past participle nursed | /nɜːst/ /nɜːrst/ |
| -ing form nursing | /ˈnɜːsɪŋ/ /ˈnɜːrsɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] nurse somebody to care for somebody who is ill or injured
- He worked in a hospital for ten years nursing cancer patients.
- She nursed her daughter back to health.
- He nursed his wife devotedly through her last illness.
- He was nursed back to health by his devoted servant.
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- [transitive] nurse something to take care of an injury or illness, especially by resting and not trying to do too much
- Several weeks after the match, he was still nursing a shoulder injury.
- You'd better go to bed and nurse that cold.
- (figurative) She was nursing her hurt pride.
- (figurative) European markets were still nursing their wounds after Monday's losses.
- I'm nursing a mild hangover from last night's party.
- She's still nursing a broken heart at the sudden break-up of her marriage.
Collocations IllnessesIllnessesBecoming ill- catch a cold/an infectious disease/the flu/(British English) flu/pneumonia/a virus/(informal) a bug
- get (British English) ill/(North American English) sick/a disease/AIDS/breast cancer/a cold/the flu/(British English) flu/a migraine
- come down with a cold/the flu/(British English) flu
- contract a deadly disease/a serious illness/HIV/AIDS
- be infected with a virus/a parasite/HIV
- develop cancer/diabetes/a rash/an ulcer/symptoms of hepatitis
- have a heart attack/a stroke
- provoke/trigger/produce an allergic reaction
- block/burst/rupture a blood vessel
- damage/sever a nerve/an artery/a tendon
- feel (British English) ill/nauseous/queasy
- be running (British English) a temperature/(North American English) a fever
- have a head cold/diabetes/heart disease/lung cancer/a headache/(British English) a high temperature/(North American English) a fever
- suffer from asthma/malnutrition/frequent headaches/nausea/bouts of depression/post-traumatic stress disorder
- be laid up with/ (British English) be in bed with a cold/the flu/(British English) flu/a migraine
- nurse a cold/a headache/a hangover
- battle/fight cancer/depression/addiction/alcoholism
- examine a patient
- diagnose a condition/disease/disorder
- be diagnosed with cancer/diabetes/schizophrenia
- prescribe/be given/be on/take drugs/medicine/medication/pills/painkillers/antibiotics
- treat somebody for cancer/depression/shock
- have/undergo an examination/an operation/surgery/a kidney transplant/therapy/chemotherapy/treatment for cancer
- have/be given an injection/(British English) a flu jab/(North American English) a flu shot/a blood transfusion/a scan/an X-ray
- cure a disease/an ailment/cancer/a headache/a patient
- prevent the spread of disease/further outbreaks/damage to the lungs
- be vaccinated against the flu/(British English) flu/the measles/(British English) measles/polio/smallpox
- enhance/boost/confer/build immunity to a disease
- [transitive] nurse something (formal) to have a strong feeling or idea in your mind for a long time synonym harbour
- to nurse an ambition/a grievance/a grudge
- She had been nursing a secret desire to see him again.
- [transitive] nurse something to give special care or attention to somebody/something
- to nurse tender young plants
- He nursed the car up the steep hill.
- [transitive] nurse something to hold a drink for a long time, drinking it slowly
- He sat nursing his cup of coffee.
- [intransitive, transitive] (of a woman or female animal) to feed a baby with milk from the breast synonym suckle
- a nursing mother
- nurse somebody/something The lioness is still nursing her cubs.
- [intransitive] (of a baby) to drink milk from its mother’s breast synonym suckle
- Babies nurse more at night in the first three weeks.
Word Originlate Middle English: contraction of earlier nourice, from Old French, from late Latin nutricia, feminine of Latin nutricius ‘(person) that nourishes’, from nutrix, nutric- ‘nurse’, from nutrire ‘nourish’. The verb was originally a contraction of nourish, altered under the influence of the noun.
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nurse