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
  • More scientifically referred to as retrograde duct flow, this is the mechanism by which breastfeeding babies shoot spit into the nipple of whomever is nursing them.
    — Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 29 July 2026
  • Santa Barbara Zoo stated on July 20 that the cub who recently died had stopped nursing.
    — Raven Brunner, PEOPLE, 28 July 2026
Definition of nursing
Verb
  • The Bandits put together a rally in the bottom of the seventh, spoiling Fouts’ shutout performance as Skylar Wallace laced an RBI single into left to bring home Keirstin Roose.
    — Molly Keshin, New York Times, 26 July 2026
  • Without spoiling what happens, Schwarzenegger was particularly game to portray the increasingly strange dynamic between his character and Nivola’s.
    — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 23 July 2026
Definition of spoiling
Verb
  • On that note, resist the urge to bury discomfort by indulging, shopping or being stubbornly silent.
    — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 8 July 2026
  • Will blamed Cal for the idea; Cal, Will for indulging it; both of them the other for not being the one dead.
    — Emily Ruskovich, The Atlantic, 7 July 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 3 Aug. 2026.

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