Emily Dickinson Lexicon

NURSE, n. [nurs; Fr. nourrice, from nourrir, to nourish.]

1. A woman that has the care of infants, or a woman employed to tend the children of others.
2. A woman who suckles infants.
3. A woman that has the care of a sick person.
4. A man who has the care of the sick.
5. A person that breeds, educates or protects; hence, that which breeds, brings up or causes to grow; as, Greece, the nurse of the liberal arts.
6. An old woman; in contempt. Blackmore.
7. The state of being nursed; as, to put a child to nurse. Cleaveland.
8. In composition, that which supplies food; as, a nurse-pond. Walton.