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

Orlando has spent decades nursing an enormous inferiority complex to the bigger, older, richer, and more historically relevant cities in Florida, the Southeast, and the East Coast. — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Oct. 2026

Holmes, who is still nursing the younger of the couple’s two small children, is filing challenges to her conviction and taking calls about what to expect in prison. — Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2026

In 2023, 32-year old Lauren Norris felt pain while nursing her youngest of three children. — Roni Robbins, AJC.com, 12 Oct. 2026

Jonathan Allen, a 10-year veteran who has contributed 12 tackles and two sacks in the season’s first four games, is nursing a knee injury that has kept him from participating in Cincinnati’s past two practices. — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026

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

Now, nearly a month later, the pup is regularly nursing from Winnie, zoo officials said. — Lauren Penington, Denver Post, 4 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