wet-nursing

verb

present participle of wet-nurse
1
as in nursing
to give milk to from the breast wet-nursed the woman's baby until she was well enough to do it herself

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spoiling
to treat with great or excessive care recent college grads quickly learn that employers won't wet-nurse them the way that their teachers did

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wet-nursing
  1. nursing
  2. spoiling
  3. indulging
Verb
  • Uncle Jimmy hung back by the drippy windows at the rear of the kitchen nursing a Schlitz.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Box Wine is nursing an ACL tear and is not expected to be ready for Week 1.
    — Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of nursing
Verb
  • Decades later, the government was still buying surplus cheese and storing it in vast underground caves in Missouri, Wisconsin, and Kansas, warehouses cool enough to hold the cheese for years without spoiling.
    — Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The heat won’t be the only thing spoiling New Yorkers’ fun in the sun this weekend.
    — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of spoiling
Verb
  • Whether the race ever happens, the idea is pure Shaq, a celebrity who's renowned for indulging his passions, of which cars are near the top of the list.
    — Terry Baddoo, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2026
  • Here was a doctor borrowing the language of a fast food brand while encouraging people not to fear indulging.
    — Karin Eldor, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of indulging
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.

Browse Nearby Words

wet-nurses
wet-nursing
wets
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Cite this Entry

“Wet-nursing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wet-nursing. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

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