Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

dry-nurse

verb

Definition of dry-nurse

transitive verb
1 :to act as dry nurse to
2 :to give unnecessary supervision to

Explore M-W

one-green-toy-robot-amidst-many-red-toy-robots
The Exceptions Quiz III
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
alt-59e8af1b31525
Trending: NY Times: Trump's Call Ignites 'Imbroglio'
tycoon
17 English Words that Come From Japanese

First Known Use of dry-nurse

1581

dry nurse

noun

Definition of dry nurse

:a nurse who takes care of but does not breastfeed another woman's baby

Examples of dry nurse in a Sentence

  1. after years of being a dry nurse to other women's children, she longed to have a child of her own

First Known Use of dry nurse

1598

dry nurse Synonyms

Synonyms
babysitter, nurse, nanny (also nannie), nursemaid, nurser, sitter
Related Words
amah, ayah; au pair, bonne; mammy; duenna, fraulein, governess, mademoiselle

Medical Dictionary

dry-nurse

transitive verb \ (ˈ)drī-ˈnərs \

medical Definition of dry-nurse

dry-nursed; dry-nursing
:to act as dry nurse to

dry nurse

noun

medical Definition of dry nurse

:a nurse who takes care of but does not breastfeed another woman's baby

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up dry-nurse? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

knee-jerk

play

readily predictable

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. imbroglio "a public scandal"

  2. spurious of a deceitful nature or quality

  3. righteous We provide an assortment of definitions

  4. Kafkaesque 'A nightmarish quality'

  5. mike "microphone"

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

The Exceptions Quiz III

  • one-green-toy-robot-amidst-many-red-toy-robots
  • Which of these words does not mean "nonsense"?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Citation

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-59ea52ed7b96f
Learned Fools: On Names for Students

Why do we call students 'freshmen' and 'sophomores'?

alt-59e900afadac6
The Synonyms 'Discover' and 'Invent'

In the past, you could invent fruit.

alt-59e8c3440f453
I'll Have the Us(ual)

Shortening 'usual': easy to say, hard to spell

alt-59e77dc36c593
The Origins of 'Lobbyist'

From the front hallways to the back rooms

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

one-green-toy-robot-amidst-many-red-toy-robots
The Exceptions Quiz III

Which of these things doesn't belong?

Take the quiz
knupfer-painting-solon-before-croesus
Forms of Government Quiz

Name that government! Or something like that.

Take the quiz
Spell It
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Take the quiz
Citation
Citation

Do you know the person or title these quotes describe?

Play the game
Examples: dry-nurse in a Sentence