nurse-child 
nurse-child (nrrs'i-lnld), . A child that is 
nursed; a nursling. 
Sweet nurxe-chUd of the spring's young hours. 
SirJ. lianen, Hymns uf Astrea, vii. 
nurse-fathert (uri-s'ta Tiier), . A foster-fa- 
ther. 
K. Kdward, . . . knowing tiitn-flf to be a malutainer 
anil Nurte-Jather of the Church, ordained three new liish 
opricks. ffoBoitd, tr. of Cuodm, p. ML (Dairies.) 
nurse-frog (ners'frog), w. The obstetrical toad, 
.lli/lr.i nlisti'lrii-tinx. Also called accoucheur-toad. 
Sen cut under .l/i//rx. 
nurse-gardent (ners'gar'dn), n. A nursery. 
A College, the nource garden (as It were) or plant plot 
of good letters. Holland, tr. of Camden, p. 393. (Varies.) 
nurse-hound (ners'hound), n, A shark, .Vi//- 
liorhinux c<i ti< Ins. See cut under mermaid's- 
jiurse. [Local, Eng.] 
nursekeeper (ners'ke'per), . A nurse who 
has also charge as a keeper. 
When hia fever had t>oiled up to a delirium, he was 
strong enough to beat his nurxcleeeper and his doctor too. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 796. 
nurse-maid (ners'mad), . A maid-servant em- 
ployed to tend children. 
nurse-mothert (ners'muTH'er), n. A foster- 
mother. 
And this much briefly of my deare Nurse-mother Oxford. 
Holland, tr. of Camden, p. 383. (Dames.) 
nurse-name (ners'nam),w. Anickname. Cam- 
nurse-pond (ners'pond), n. 
fish. 
A pond for young 
When you store your pond, you are to put into It two or 
three melters for one spawner, If you put them into a breed- 
ing-pond; but if into a nurse-pond, or feeding-pond, in 
which they will not breed, then no care is to bo taken. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, i. 20. 
nurser (ner'sor), . One who nurses; a nurse; 
hence, one who promotes or encourages. 
See, where he lies inhearsed in the arms 
Of the most bloody nurwr of his harms ! 
Shale., 1 Hen. VI., iv. 7. 46. 
nursery (ner'ser-i), n. ; pi. nurseries (-iz). [< 
nurse -r- -cry.'] If. The act of nursing ; tender 
care and attendance. 
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest 
On her kind nursery . Shale., Lear, I. I. 126. 
2f. That which is the object of a nurse's care. 
Rose, and went forth among her fruits and flowers, 
To visit, how they prosper'd, bud and bloom, 
Her nursery. Milton, P. L., viii. 46. 
A jolly dame, no doubt ; as appears by the well battling 
of the plump boy her nursery. 
fuller, Pisgah Sight, II. viii. 21. 
3. A place or apartment set apart for children. 
There 's bluid in my nursery, 
There 's bluid in my ha'. 
Lammikin (Child's Ballads, III. 311). 
The eldest of them at three years old, 
I' the swathing-clothes the other, from their nursery 
Were stol'n. Shale., Cymbeline, i. 1. 59. 
4. A place where trees are raised from seed or 
otherwise in order to be transplanted ; a place 
where vegetables, flowering plants, and trees 
are raised (as by budding or grafting) with a 
view to sale. 
Your nursery of stocks ought to be In a more barren 
ground than the ground is whereunto you remove them. 
Bacon. 
There is a flue nursery of young trees. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 69. 
5. The place where anything is fostered and 
its growth promoted. 
Kevele to me the sacred noumery 
Of vertue, which with you doth there remaine. 
Spenser, F. O.., VI., Prol. 
To see fair Padua, nursery of arts. 
Shak., T. of the S., 1 1. 2. 
One of their principal] Colledges . . . was their famous 
Sorbona, that fruitfull nursery of schoole divines. 
Coryat, Crudities, I. 28. 
To Athens I have sent, the nursery 
Of Greece for learning and the fount of knowledge. 
Ford, Broken Heart, v. 1. 
6. Injuth-cultiire, a shallow box or trough of suit- 
able size used for feeding and nursing young 
fish through the first six or eight months after 
the yolk-sac is absorbed. They are guarded with 
screens like hatching-troughs, and also, like the latter, 
have usually a layer of gravel on the bottom. 
7. Occupation, condition, or circumstances in 
which some quality may be fostered or pro- 
moted. 
This keeping of cowes is of iteelfe a very idle life, and a 
fltt nunfrt/c of a theefe. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
Nursery-gardener, a nurseryman. 
nursery-maid (ner'ser-i -mad), H. A nurse- 
maid. 
4043 
nurseryman(ner'ser-i-niaii), .; pi. nurserymen 
(-men). One who owns or conducts a nursrry : 
a man who is employed in the cultivation of 
herbs, flowering plants, trees, etc., from seed 
or otherwise, for transplanting or for sale. 
nurse-shark (ners'shark), n. Same as nurse, 7. 
nurse-SOnt (ners'sun), . A foster-son. 
.Sir Thomas Bodley, a right worshlpfull knight, and a 
most worthy nource-son of this Vnivrrsity. 
Uullaiut, tr. of C'aiuden, p. 382. (Dames.) 
nursing-bottle (ner'sing-bot'l), n. A bottle 
lit ti'il with a rubber tip, or a tube and nipple, 
from which an infant draws milk by sucking, 
nurslet, nurstlet, <' Obsolete forms of nuzzle. 
nursling (ut'-rs'ling), n. [< nurse, r., + -ling 1 .'] 
One who or that which is nursed ; an infant ; a 
child; a fondling. 
I haue heen now almost this fourtie yeares, not a geaste, 
but a contlnuall nurslynge in muister Bonuice house. 
Sir T. More, Works, p. 1456. 
I was his nursling once. Milton, 8. A., 1. 633. 
But now thy youngest, dearest one has perished. 
The nursling of thy widowhood. 
Shelley, Adonals, it. 6. 
nurspell (ner'spel), n. Same as nur-and-spell. 
nurtural (ner'tur-al), a. [< nurture + -al.~] 
Produced by nurture or education. 
The problem of determining purely "racial characteris- 
tics " will be considerably simplified if we can in this way 
determine what may be described in contradistinction as 
" nurtural characteristics." Jour. Anthrop. /rut, XIX. 78. 
nurture (ner'tur), n. [Early mod. E. also nourt- 
ture; < ME. norture, noriture, < OP. nurture, 
nourture, noureture, nourritiire, norritttre, F. 
nourritiire, < LL. untritnrti, nourishment, < L. 
nutrire, pp. nutritus, nourish: see nourinli."] 1. 
The act of supplying with nourishment; the 
act or process of cultivating or promoting 
growth. 
For this 
Ordain 'd thy nurture holy, as of a plant 
Select and sacred. Milton, S. A., 1. 362. 
How needful marchandize is, which furnisheth men of 
all that which is conuenient for their liuing and nouri- 
ture. Halduyt's Voyages, I. 205. 
2. Upbringing; training; discipline; instruc- 
tion ; education ; breeding, especially good 
breeding. 
That thurhe your nurture and youre governaunce 
In lastynge blysse yee mowe your self auaunce. 
Babeet Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 9. 
And of nurture the child had good. 
Childe Maurice (Child's Ballads, II. 315). 
Vet am I Inland bred, 
And know some nurture. 
Shot., As you Like it, ii. 7. 97. 
3. Nourishment ; that which nourishes ; food ; 
diet. 
How shold a plaunte or lyves creature 
Ly ve withouteu his kynde noriture ? 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 768. 
Age of nurture. See age, 3. Guardian for nurture. 
See guardian, 2 (d). =Syn. 2. Training, Discipline, etc. 
(see instruction), schooling. 
nurture (ner'tur), v. t. ; pret. and pp. nurtured, 
ppr. nurturing. [< nurture, n.] 1. To feed; 
nourish. 
They suppose mother earth to be a great animal, and 
to have nurtured up her young offspring with a conscious 
tenderness. Bentley. 
2. To educate ; bring or train up. 
Thou broughtest It up with thy righteousness, and 
nurturedst it in thy law. 2 Esd. viii. 12. 
My man of morals, nurtur'd in the shades 
Of Academus. Camper, Task, ii. 532. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Nurse, Nourish, Nurture. These words 
are of the same origin. Nurse has the least, and nourish 
much, of figurative use. Nurture expresses most of 
thoughtful care and moral discipline : it is not now used 
in any but this secondary sense. 2. To instruct, school, 
rear, breed, discipline. 
nurturyt, . fME. ntirtcrye; an extended form 
of nurture.'] Nurture. 
The child was taught great nurterye; 
a Master had him vnder his care, 
<fe taught him curtesie. 
Quoted In Babeet Book(E. E. T. S.X Forewords, p. v. 
nurvillt, . [ME. nurvyll, nyrvyl, prob. < Icel. 
nyrfilt, a miser.] A little man ; a dwarf. Prompt. 
fan, 
nuset, " [Origin obscure.] A kind of fish. 
There we ate a great Nuse, which Xuses were there (near 
Nova Zembla] so plentie that they would scarcely suffer 
any other fish to come neere the hookes. 
Halduyt's Voyaget, I. 283. 
nussierite (nus'i-er-It), n. JX Nussiere (see 
def.) + -ite 2 .] An impure variety of pyromor- 
phite, from La Nussiere, Bh6ne, France. 
nustlet, ' ? . An obsolete form of nuzzle. 
nut (nut), n. [< ME. nutte, nute, note,< AS. linutu 
= MD. not, D. noot = MLG. not, note, LG. nut, 
. MHG. <ir, G. iiuss = Icel.hnot 
nutant 
= Sw. ui'it = Dan. tiiid (not recorded iiiGoth.); 
root unknown. Not rnnnci-icd with L. tins 
()!<-), nut, > K. nurlfii.1, etc. ('{. Gael. CHI'I, cnu, 
anut.J 1. The fruit of certain trees and Nliruns 
which have the seed inclosed in a bony, woody, 
or leathery covering, not opening whrn ripe. 
Specifically, a hard <>n>- < llnl uml one-seeded indchfscent 
fruit, like an achenlum, but larger and usually produced 
from an ovary of two or more cells with mit-oi more ovules 
in each, all but a single ovule and cell having disappeared 
during its growth. The nuts of the hazel, beech, oak, and 
chestnut are examples. In the walnut (Juylant) and hick- 
ory (Carya} the fruit is a kind of drupaceous nut, seem- 
ingly Intermediate between a stone-fruit and a nut. 
Ylt Columelle he saithe of seedet aowe 
Or nuttes wol best berlng treen up grow. 
PaUadiut, Husbondr!e(K. K. T. s.), p. 79. 
2. In nmrli.. some small part supposed in some 
way to resemble a nut. Specifically <a) A small 
cylinder or other body with teeth or projections corre- 
sponding with the teeth or grooves of a wheel. ('<) The 
projection near the eye of an anchor, (t) A perforated 
block of metal with an Internal or female 
screw.whfch is screwed down, as upon a bolt 
to fasten it, upon an end of an axle to keep 
the wheel from coming off, etc. Nuts are 
made in all sizes, ana range from small 
finger-nuts, or nuts with wings for ease In 
turning, to those of very large size used 
for anchoring holts in masonry. See cuts 
under aerator and bolt, (d) In firearm*, 
the tumbler of a gun-lock. See cut mi 
der gun-lock. () The sleeve by which the 
sliding-jaw of a monkey-wrench is oper- 
ated. </i In musical instruments played 
with a bow : (1) The slight ridge at the up- 
Ntit, def. a (r). 
a. bolt; . 
principal nut ; 
( . lock - nut or 
per end of the heck over which the strings J">-nni. sere' 
pass, and by which they are prevented from 
upon 
prevent it from 
touching the neck unless pressed by the turning. 
finger. (2) The movable piece at the lower 
end of the bow. Into which the hairs are fastened, and 
by screwing which in or out their tension may be slack- 
ened or tightened. 
3. Same as chestnut-coal. 4. pi. Something 
especially agreeable or enjoyable. [Slang.] 
It will be nuts, If my case this IB, 
Both for Atrides and Ulysses. 
C. Cotton, Scarronides, p. 15. (Dames.) 
This was nut* to us, for we liked to have a Mexican wet 
with salt water. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 251. 
5. pi. The testicles. [Vulgar.] 6f. A cup 
made of the shell of a cocoanut or some other 
nut, often mounted in silver. A nut to crack, a 
difficult problem to solve ; a puzzle to be explained. 
No wonder that to others the nut of such a character was 
hard to crack. Bulwer, The Caxtons, I. 3. (Latham.) 
Barbados nut. See Jatropha. Beazor nuts. Same 
tabonduc-sceds. Bedda-nut. Same as belleric. Black 
nut ' , a cup formed of a nut, probably a cocoanut. See def. 
i' Castanhanut. Same as Brazil-nut. Constantino- 
ple nut. See Corylus. Drinker's nut. Sameasfiwirin^- 
nut French nut, the European walnut, Jui/lans regia. 
Jesuits' nut. See Jesuit. Kundah-nut, the seed which 
yields the kundah-oil. See Carapa and kuiulahoil. Lam- 
bert's nut, a variety of the European hazelnut. Large- 
bond nut. Same as fMmbert's nut. Levant nut, the 
fruit of Anamirta Cocculus, formerly exported from the Le- 
vant. Lumbang nut, &&me&*candlebtrry,l. See^Jew- 
riie. Lycoperdon nuts. See l^ycoperdon. Madeira 
nut, a thin-shelled variety of the common Old World wal- 
nut* Juglans regia. Also called English or French walnut, 
as distinguished from the black walnut. Malabar nut. 
See Justicia. Manila nut, the peanut, Arachis hypoytea. 
Marany nut. Same as marking-nut. Mote-hut. 
Same as kundah-nut. Nut of an anchor. See anchor^. 
Queensland nut. See Macadamia. Sardian nut, the 
ancient name of the chestnut as introduced into Europe 
from Sardis. Singhara nut. Same as water- nut. Span- 
ish nut. (a) A variety of the European hazelnut. (6) A 
bulbous plant, /rig Sisyrinchium, of southern Europe. To 
be nuts on, to be very fond of. (Colloq. or alang.] 
My aunt is awful nuts on Marcus Aurelius; I beg your 
pardon, you don't know the phrase. My aunt makes Mar- 
cus Aurelius her Bible. 
W. Black, Princess of Thnle, xl. (Dariet.) 
To crack a nut See the quotation. 
In country gentlemen's houses [in Scotland) In theolden 
time when a guest arrived he was met by the laird, who 
made him "crack a nut "that is, drink a silver-mounted 
cocoanut-shell full of claret. 
S. and Q., 7th ser., VIIL 437. 
nut (nut), v. i.; pret. and pp. nutted, ppr. nut- 
ting. [< nut, .] To gather nuts: used espe- 
cially in the present participle. 
A. W. went to angle with Will. Staine of Merton College 
to Wheatley Bridge, and nutted in Shotover by the way. 
A. Wood, Life of Himself, p. 73. 
The younger people, making holiday, 
With bag and sack and basket, great and small, 
Went nutting to the hazels. Tennyson, Enoch Arden. 
nutant (nu'tant), a. [= F. nutant = Pg. nu- 
tante, < L. nutan(t-)s, ppr. of nutare, nod with 
the head, freq. of "nuere (in comp. abnuere, re- 
fuse by a shake of the head, adnuere, annuere, 
assent by a nod, innuere, nod to), = Or. vei-civ, 
nod.] 1. In bot., drooping or nodding; hang- 
ing with the apex downward : applied to stems, 
flower-clusters, etc. 2. In entom., sloping: 
said of a surface or part forming an obtuse 
angle with the parts behind it, or with the axis 
