Synonyms of nursing

nursing

verb

present participle of nurse

1

as in healing

to attend to the needs and comforts of

willingly lent a hand to nurse his grandmother in her final years, helping her get from one room to the other and making sure she was warm

Synonyms & Similar Words

• healing
• mothering
• treating
• administering (to)
• ministering (to)
• looking out for
• looking after
• supporting
• looking to
• aiding
• waiting on
• doing for
• taking care of
• seeing to
• caring (for)
• curing
• preserving
• conserving
• doctoring
• spoiling
• remedying
• providing (for)
• catering (to)
• babying
• pampering
• coddling
• mollycoddling
• humoring
• indulging

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• neglecting
• forgetting
• overlooking
• brushing (aside or off)
• slighting

2

as in suckling

to give milk to from the breast

a new mother's decision to nurse her baby

Synonyms & Similar Words

• suckling
• breast-feeding
• bottle-feeding
• wet-nursing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• weaning

3

as in having

to keep in one's mind or heart

he continues to nurse a tender affection for his first girlfriend

Synonyms & Similar Words

• having
• holding
• retaining
• entertaining
• harboring
• keeping
• cherishing
• cultivating
• maintaining
• carrying
• holding on to
• bearing
• fostering
• nurturing
• sustaining
• remembering
• hugging
• hanging on to
• supporting
• preserving
• clinging (to)
• sticking (to)
• treasuring
• cleaving (to)
• brooding (about or over)
• obsessing (about or over)
• fixating (on or upon)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ignoring
• neglecting
• forgetting
• dropping
• declining
• disregarding
• denying
• overlooking
• refusing
• rejecting
• abandoning
• quitting
• repudiating
• discarding
• forsaking
• parting (with)
• renouncing
• giving up
• deserting
• scorning
• throwing out
• disdaining
• abjuring
• erasing
• expunging

4

as in spoiling

to treat with great or excessive care

nursed his sprained ankle for the rest of the week

Synonyms & Similar Words

• spoiling
• indulging
• dandling
• mothering
• babying
• pampering
• mollycoddling
• pleasing
• coddling
• cosseting
• wet-nursing
• cockering
• appeasing
• satisfying
• delighting
• humoring
• catering (to)
• contenting
• soothing
• gratifying
• obliging
• placating
• pacifying
• gladdening
• mollifying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• abusing
• controlling
• restraining
• disciplining
• maltreating
• mistreating
• manhandling
• misusing
• mishandling
• neglecting
• oppressing
• ill-using
• ill-treating
• violating
• overlooking
• hurting
• molesting
• slighting
• harassing
• tormenting
• torturing
• harming
• injuring
• victimizing
• outraging
• persecuting

5

as in raising

to bring to maturity through care and education

as foster parents they accepted and nursed 16 needy children over the years

Synonyms & Similar Words

• raising
• fostering
• breeding
• nurturing
• teaching
• feeding
• rearing
• promoting
• watching
• educating
• nourishing
• bringing up
• attending
• cultivating
• training
• mothering
• schooling
• disciplining
• ministering (to)
• fathering
• instructing
• cradling
• supplying
• mentoring
• leading
• preparing
• tutoring
• providing (for)
• guiding
• caring (for)
• furthering
• enlightening
• advancing
• showing
• forwarding
• minding
• indoctrinating
• shepherding
• edifying
• directing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• abusing
• ignoring
• mistreating
• maltreating
• neglecting
• mishandling
• ill-using
• hurting
• ill-treating
• injuring
• harming

6

as in promoting

to help the growth or development of

her teachers did much to nurse her literary talent

Synonyms & Similar Words

• promoting
• encouraging
• cultivating
• fostering
• nurturing
• advancing
• furthering
• assisting
• forwarding
• advocating
• incubating
• nourishing
• supporting
• funding
• financing
• aiding
• endorsing
• advertising
• underwriting
• upholding
• backing
• subsidizing
• championing
• publicizing
• working (for)
• patronizing
• boosting
• abetting
• plugging
• staking
• endowing
• agitating (for)
• campaigning (for)
• touting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• preventing
• discouraging
• hindering
• inhibiting
• prohibiting
• fighting
• frustrating
• opposing
• forbidding
• proscribing
• banning
• combating
• outlawing
• barring
• battling
• enjoining
• contending (with)
• countering
• interdicting
• checking
• stifling
• suppressing
• subduing
• repressing
• squashing
• interfering (with)
• retarding
• arresting
• halting
• impeding
• obstructing
• hobbling
• squelching
• encumbering
• snuffing (out)
• shackling
• manacling
• fettering

7

as in conserving

to use or give out in stingy amounts

he carefully nursed his energy during the marathon so that he would have something left for the final stretch

Synonyms & Similar Words

• conserving
• sparing
• preserving
• skimping (on)
• scanting
• doling out
• stinting (on)
• rationing (out)
• meting (out)
• shortchanging
• portioning (out)
• pinching

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pouring
• showering
• raining
• heaping
• lavishing

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of nursing

Beyond the repartee between Nick and Sam, Addy and Wyatt share a sibling-like relationship that could turn into something more, especially since Wyatt is nursing a broken heart following the sudden end of his engagement. — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 6 Oct. 2026

The Lakers played without Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler, who are nursing injuries. — Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026

Top running back Fluff Bothwell, who entered the game nursing a lower-body injury, carried the ball only once for 1 yard on the Bulldogs' opening series and watched the second half with a boot on his left foot. — ABC News, 3 Oct. 2026

Aaron Judge, still nursing a right calf strain, was left off the New York Yankees’ roster for the best-of-five American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays that begins Saturday night. — Brendan Kuty, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2026

Both Caleb Douglas, the Dolphins rookie standout, and Justin Jefferson, the Vikings’ All-Pro receiver, are nursing ankle injuries. — Omar Kelly october 1, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026

Cowboys defensive tackle Quinnen Williams was on the field for just two plays after nursing something in the blue medical tent earlier. — Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Sep. 2026

Saquon Barkley is nursing a stinger sustained last week so the Eagles aren’t fully healthy either. — Hank Gola, New York Daily News, 25 Sep. 2026

The backstory For most of my life, the Old Dutch Inn has been just a faint memory of kicking my legs from a bar stool, drinking a Shirley Temple next to my late grandmother, who would likely have been nursing a gin and tonic. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Sep. 2026