nursemaid

noun

nurse·​maid ˈnərs-ˌmād How to pronounce nursemaid (audio)
: a girl or woman who is regularly employed to look after children

Examples of nursemaid in a Sentence

sent the children to their nursemaid
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.
Typically portrayed as a middle-aged nursemaid whose main claim to fame was surviving the mercurial Tudor king, Catherine was an accomplished scholar, religious reformer and advocate for women’s education. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 May 2024 For a time, the girl’s only duty in the grand English house was to serve as a kind of human foot warmer, but when her mistress gave birth to a profoundly mentally disabled daughter, Zed became the baby’s devoted nursemaid. Ron Charles, Washington Post, 7 Sep. 2023 Here the often wonderfully eccentric minor characters — chauffeurs, nursemaids, household servants — vie for center stage with the equally eccentric bourgeois clans that employ them. Alida Becker, New York Times, 28 July 2023 Her nursemaid nicknamed her Lady Bird. CBS News, 14 Mar. 2021 Brow furrowed, décolletage emblazoned with a full-chest tattoo, Marija is no one’s idea of a classic nursemaid. Jessica Kiang, Variety, 1 Sep. 2021 That man, the vile King Kans, sends a demon disguised as a lovely nursemaid to kill Krishna in his foster-family’s home. Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 21 Oct. 2022 Rhys received equally brutal treatment from the other female figure of authority in her formative years, her nursemaid, Meta, who violently shook her young charge when angry and terrified her with stories about blood-sucking zombies. Malcolm Forbes, WSJ, 17 June 2022 According to Encyclopedia Britannica, she was forced to work from a young age, alternatively acting as a nursemaid, a field hand, a cook and a woodcutter. Isis Davis-Marks, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Apr. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1657, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nursemaid was in 1657

Dictionary Entries Near nursemaid

Cite this Entry

“Nursemaid.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nursemaid. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

nursemaid

noun
nurse·​maid ˈnər-ˌsmād How to pronounce nursemaid (audio)
: a girl or woman employed to look after children

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