different between nurse vs rear

English

Alternative forms

• nourice (archaic)
• norice (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English norice, from Old French norrice, from Latin n?tr?cius (“that nourishes”), from n?tr?x (“wet nurse”), from n?tri? (“to suckle”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /n??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /n?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Noun

nurse (plural nurses)

1. (archaic) A wet nurse.
2. A person (usually a woman) who takes care of other people’s young.

3. A person trained to provide care for the sick.
   • 1990, Andrew Davies, Michael Dobbs, House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 4

     Francis Urquhart: Right. Mackenzie. Health. No chance of getting him into a demo at a hospital, I suppose?
     Tim Stamper: Doesn't go to hospitals any more. Kept getting beaten up by the nurses... I think he has trouble getting insured now.

4. (figuratively) One who, or that which, brings up, rears, causes to grow, trains, or fosters.
   • 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France

     the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise

5. (horticulture) A shrub or tree that protects a young plant.
6. (nautical) A lieutenant or first officer who takes command when the captain is unfit for his place.
7. A larva of certain trematodes, which produces cercariae by asexual reproduction.
8. A nurse shark.

Usage notes

• Some speakers consider nurses (medical workers) to be female by default, and thus use "male nurse" to refer to a man doing the same job.

Derived terms

• nurse practitioner
• snotty's nurse
• wet nurse, wet-nurse

Descendants

Translations

Verb

nurse (third-person singular simple present nurses, present participle nursing, simple past and past participle nursed)

1. (transitive) To breastfeed: to feed (a baby) at the breast; to suckle.

   She believes that nursing her baby will make him strong and healthy.

2. (intransitive) To breastfeed: to be fed at the breast.
3. (transitive) To care for (someone), especially in sickness; to tend to.

   She nursed him back to health.

4. to treat kindly and with extra care

   She nursed the rosebush and that season it bloomed.

5. to manage with care and economy

   Synonym: husband

6. to drink slowly, to make it last

   Rob was nursing a small beer.

7. to foster, to nourish
8. to hold closely to one's chest

   Would you like to nurse the puppy?

9. (billiards) To strike (billiard balls) gently, so as to keep them in good position during a series of shots.
   • 1866, United States. Congress. Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, Supplemental report of the Joint Committee

     It is to our interest to let Lee and Johnston come together, just as a billiard-player would nurse the balls when he has them in a nice place

Usage notes

In sense “to drink slowly”, generally negative and particularly used for someone at a bar, suggesting they either cannot afford to buy another drink or are too miserly to do so. By contrast, sip is more neutral.

Synonyms

• (drink slowly): sip, see also Thesaurus:drink

Translations

See also

• matron
• sister

Further reading

• nurse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• nurse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• nurse at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Nurse in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Nuers, Suren, Unser, runes, urnes

Middle English

Noun

nurse

1. Alternative form of norice

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???/, /?i?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Etymology 1

From Middle English reren (“to raise”), from Old English r?ran (“to raise, set upright, promote, exalt, begin, create, give rise to, excite, rouse, arouse, stir up”), from Proto-Germanic *raizijan?, *raisijan? (“to cause to rise, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?rey- (“to lift oneself, rise”).

Cognate with Scots rere (“to construct, build, rear”), Icelandic reisa (“to raise”), Gothic ???????????????????????????? (raisjan, “to cause to rise, lift up, establish”), German reisen (“to travel”, literally “to rear up and depart”); and a doublet of raise. More at rise.

Related to rise and raise, which is used for several of its now archaic or obsolete senses and for some of its senses that are currently more common in other dialects of English.

Alternative forms

• reer, rere, rare (all obsolete)

Verb

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

1. (transitive) To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.
   • 1694, Thomas Southerne, Isabella: Or The Fatal Marriage

     He wants a father to protect his youth, and rear him up to virtue.

2. (transitive, said of people towards animals) To breed and raise.

3. (intransitive) To rise up on the hind legs

4. (intransitive, usually with "up") To get angry.
5. (intransitive) To rise high above, tower above.
6. (transitive, literary) To raise physically or metaphorically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate.

   Poverty reared its ugly head. (appeared, started, began to have an effect)

   The monster slowly reared its head.

   • 1835, Lord Lytton, Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes

     Mine [shall be] the first hand to rear her banner.

7. (transitive, rare) To construct by building; to set up

   to rear defenses or houses

   to rear one government on the ruins of another.

   • One reared a font of stone.

8. (transitive, rare) To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally.
   • 1700, Isaac Barrow, Of Industry...

     It reareth our hearts from vain thoughts.

9. (transitive, obsolete) To lift and take up.
10. (transitive, obsolete) To rouse; to strip up.
    • 1684, John Dryden, The Second Epode of Horace

      And seeks the tusky boar to rear.

Usage notes

• It is standard US English to raise children, and this usage has become common in all kinds of English since the 1700s. Until fairly recently, however, US teachers taught the traditional rule that one should raise crops and animals, but rear children, despite the fact that this contradicted general usage. It is therefore not surprising that some people still prefer to rear children and that this is considered correct but formal in US English. It is widespread in UK English and not considered formal.

• It is generally considered incorrect to rear crops or (adult) animals in US English, but this expression is common in UK English.

Synonyms

• (rise up on the hind legs): prance

Derived terms

• raring
• childrearing

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English reren, from Old English hr?ran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hr?zijan? (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *?roHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Cognate with Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

Alternative forms

• reer, rere (all obsolete)

Verb

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

1. (transitive) To move; stir.
2. (transitive, of geese) To carve.

   Rere that goose!

3. (regional, obsolete) To revive, bring to life, quicken. (only in the phrase, to rear to life)

   (Speculum Sacerdotale c. 15th century)

Usage notes

• In the sense "bring to life", the more common variant of to rear to life is to raise to life. “I pray you, Declan, servant of God, that in the name of Christ you would raise to life for me the seven hostages whom I held in bondage from the chieftains of Munster." (Life of Saint Declan of Ardmore By Saint Declan of Ardmore, Aeterna Press, 2015.)

Related terms

• reremouse
• uproar

References

• The Middle English Dictionary

Etymology 3

From Middle English rere, from Old English hr?r, hr?re (“not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled”), from hr?ran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hr?zijan? (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *?roHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Related to Old English hr?r (“stirring, busy, active, strong, brave”), Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

Alternative forms

• reer, rere
• rare (US)

Adjective

rear (comparative rearer or more rear, superlative rearest or most rear)

1. (now chiefly dialectal) (of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw.
2. (chiefly US) (of meats) Rare.
   • 2017, Dr. Ardeshir Irani, Short Tales of the Old Wild West

     Fred ordered a rear steak along with a glass of beer as he took a seat at an empty table

Derived terms

• rear-boiled
• rear-roasted

Etymology 4

From Middle English rere, from Anglo-Norman rere, ultimately from Latin retro. Compare arrear. Doublet of retro.

Adjective

rear (not comparable)

1. Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost

Antonyms

• front

Translations

Adverb

rear (comparative more rear, superlative most rear)

1. (Britain, dialect) early; soon
   • 1714, John Gay, The Shepherd's Week

     Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!

Noun

rear (plural rears)

1. The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last on order; - opposed to front.
2. (military) Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest.
3. (anatomy) The buttocks, a creature's bottom

Synonyms

• (buttocks): rear end

Translations

Verb

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

1. To place in the rear; to secure the rear of.
2. (transitive, vulgar, Britain) To sodomize (perform anal sex)

Derived terms

Anagrams

• arré, rare

Latin

Verb

rear

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of reor

Swedish

Verb

rear

1. present tense of rea.

Anagrams

• rare