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nurse
The term carries a strong association of tenderness, patience, and sustained attention. It suggests a protective relationship where the caregiver provides not just medical assistance, but emotional support and physical comfort over a period of time. In a figurative sense, the word often describes the slow cultivation of a feeling, typically a negative one. When someone nurses a grudge or a grievance, they are actively keeping a resentment alive, treating it with a kind of obsessive care to ensure it does not fade.
Countable when referring to the professional person (a nurse). Uncountable when referring to the act of breastfeeding or the general practice of nursing.
Meanings
A person trained to care for the sick or injured.
"The nurse checked the patient's blood pressure."
To care for the sick or injured.
"She nursed her grandmother back to health."