breastfeed

verb

breast·​feed ˈbrest-ˌfēd How to pronounce breastfeed (audio)
variants or breast-feed
breastfed or breast-fed; breastfeeding or breast-feeding; breastfeeds or breast-feeds

transitive verb

: to feed (a baby) from a mother's breast

intransitive verb

1
: to breastfeed a baby
… more women are breastfeeding than ever before …Lauren Sandler
2
of a baby : to feed oneself by sucking milk from a mother's breast
breastfed adjective
or breast-fed
breastfed babies
breastfeeder noun
or breast-feeder
breastfeeding noun
or breast-feeding

Examples of breastfeed in a Sentence

believes that all women should breast-feed their babies
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Hamida discovers the newborn still attached to her corpse by umbilical cord and saves him, breastfeeding and caring for the infant as her own. JSTOR Daily, 30 Oct. 2025 Around 65,000 Arkansans participate in WIC, which offers food benefits, breastfeeding help and other health resources to low-income families. Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2025 Doctors recommend that people who are pregnant or breastfeeding skip fillers, as well as those who are allergic to specific ingredients for in fillers. Kara Nesvig, Allure, 27 Oct. 2025 Additionally, about 58,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to estimates from the World Food Programme (WFP). Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2025 There is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe and some people are at even higher risk of adverse effects, warned the agency, including young children, people of child-bearing age and people who are breastfeeding. Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 24 Oct. 2025 There are ways to conduct drug studies ethically in pregnant or breastfeeding people. Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 23 Oct. 2025 But Wootten was hospitalized for nearly three weeks, keeping her from breastfeeding. Cara Lynn Shultz, PEOPLE, 22 Oct. 2025 Later in the memoir, however, Federline makes some pretty serious claims about Spears drinking while pregnant and breastfeeding her kids while drinking and doing drugs. Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 20 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1869, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of breastfeed was in 1869

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Breastfeed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breastfeed. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

breast-feed

verb
ˈbrest-ˌfēd
breast-fed
-ˌfed
; breast-feeding
: to feed a baby from a mother's breast

Medical Definition

breastfeed

verb
breast·​feed
variants or breast-feed
ˈbrest-ˌfēd
breastfed or breast-fed; breastfeeding or breast-feeding; breastfeeds or breast-feeds

transitive verb

: to feed (a baby) from a mother's breast

intransitive verb

1
: to breastfeed a baby
2
of a baby : to feed oneself by sucking milk from a mother's breast
breastfed adjective
or breast-fed
breastfed babies
breastfeeder noun
or breast-feeder
This class for first-time breastfeeders will be from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The Reno (Nevada) Gazette-Journal
On average, infants who were exclusive breast-feeders continued to drink more as they got older … The Philadelphia Inquirer
breastfeeding noun
or breast-feeding

More from Merriam-Webster on breastfeed

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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