nurse

Universal Words noun, verb noun 1 a person whose job is to take care of sick or injured people, usually in a hospital: a qualified / registered nurse * student nurses * a male nurse * a dental nurse (= one who helps a dentist) * a psychiatric nurse (= one who works in a hospital for people with mental illnesses) * Nurse Bennett * Nurse, come quickly! seealsoCHARGENURSE, DISTRICTNURSE, PRACTICALNURSE, REGISTEREDNURSE, STAFFNURSE -< GENDER 2 (also nursemaid) (old-fashioned) (in the past) a woman or girl whose job was to take care of babies or small children in their own homes seealsoNURSERYNURSE, WETNURSE verb 1 [VN] to care for sb who is ill/sick or injured: He worked in a hospital for ten years nursing cancer patients. * She nursed her daughter back to health. * She nursed her husband devotedly through his last illness. 2 [VN] to take care of an injury or illness: 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. 3 [VN] (formal) to have a strong feeling or idea in your mind for a long time SYNHARBOUR: to nurse an ambition / a grievance / a grudge * She had been nursing a secret desire to see him again. 4 [VN] to give special care or attention to sb/sth: to nurse tender young plants * He nursed the car up the steep hill. 5 [VN] to hold sb/sth carefully in your arms or close to your body: He sat nursing his cup of coffee. 6 (of a woman or female animal) to feed a baby with milk from the breast SYNSUCKLE: [V] a nursing mother * [VN] The lioness is still nursing her cubs. compareBREASTFEED 7 [V] (of a baby) to suck milk from its mother's breast SYNSUCKLE