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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for wet-nursing
  1. nursing
  2. spoiling
  3. indulging
Verb
  • 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
Definition of nursing
Verb
  • But there were also drawbacks, mainly a fear of accidentally spoiling certain events that occur in season six.
    — Lisa de los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Without spoiling the big second-act reveal, no one in this play – or in the audience – has an unchallengeable claim on the truth.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 18 Oct. 2026
Definition of spoiling
Verb
  • Adults aren’t always used to indulging this kind of curiosity.
    — Angela Haupt, Time, 20 Oct. 2026
  • His current employer is Damien Cantor, an authentically sleazy and slippery character who operates under no discernible code beyond indulging a dumb, preening narcissism.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 7 Oct. 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 27 Oct. 2026.

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