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Definition of nurse verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

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/
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  1. [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.
  2. [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
    Being ill
    • 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
    Treatments
    • 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
  3. [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.
  4. [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.
  5. [transitive] nurse something to hold a drink for a long time, drinking it slowly
    • He sat nursing his cup of coffee.
  6. [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.
    compare breastfeed
  7. [intransitive] (of a baby) to drink milk from its mother’s breast synonym suckle
    • Babies nurse more at night in the first three weeks.
  8. 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.
See nurse in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee nurse in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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noun
 
 
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