Adjacent Words

Nourish definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

NOURISH, v.t. [G. to nourish, cannot be the same word unless they have lost a dental, which may perhaps be the fact.]
1. To feed and cause to grow; to supply a living or organized body, animal or vegetable, with matter which increases its bulk or supplies the waste occasioned by any of its functions; to supply with nutriment.
2. To support; to maintain by feeding. Genesis 47.
Whilst I in Ireland nourish a mighty band, I will stir up in England some black storm.
3. To supply the means of support and increase; to encourage; as, to nourish rebellion; to nourish the virtues.
What madness was ti, with such proofs, to nourish their contentions!
4. To cherish; to comfort. James 5.
5. To educate; to instruct; to promote growth in attainments. 1 Timothy 4.
NOURISH, v.i.
1. To promote growth.
Grains and roots nourish more then leaves. [Elliptical.]
2. To gain nourishment. [Unusual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: provide with nourishment; "We sustained ourselves on bread and water"; "This kind of food is not nourishing for young children" [syn: nourish, nurture, sustain]
2: give nourishment to [syn: nutrify, aliment, nourish]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb Etymology: Middle English nurishen, from Anglo-French nuriss-, stem of nurrir, norrir, from Latin nutrire to suckle, nourish; akin to Greek nan to flow, noteros damp, Sanskrit snauti it drips Date: 14th century 1. nurture, rear 2. to promote the growth of <no occasions to exercise the feelings nor nourish passion — L. O. Coxe> 3. a. to furnish or sustain with nutriment ; feed b. maintain, support <their profits…nourish other criminal activities — Beverly Smith> • nourisher noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. 1 a sustain with food. b enrich; promote the development of (the soil etc.). c provide with intellectual or emotional sustenance or enrichment. 2 foster or cherish (a feeling etc.). Derivatives: nourisher n. Etymology: ME f. OF norir f. L nutrire

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nourish Nour"ish, v. i. 1. To promote growth; to furnish nutriment. Grains and roots nourish more than their leaves. --Bacon. 2. To gain nourishment. [R.] --Bacon.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nourish Nour"ish, n. A nurse. [Obs.] --Hoolland.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Nourish Nour"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Nourished; p. pr. & vb. n. Nourishing.] [OE. norisen, norischen, OF. nurir, nurrir, norir, F. norrir, fr. L. nutrire. Cf. Nurse, Nutriment, and see -ish.] 1. To feed and cause to grow; to supply with matter which increases bulk or supplies waste, and promotes health; to furnish with nutriment. He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it. --Is. xliv. 14. 2. To support; to maintain. Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mighty band. --Shak. 3. To supply the means of support and increase to; to encourage; to foster; as, to nourish rebellion; to nourish the virtues. ``Nourish their contentions.'' --Hooker. 4. To cherish; to comfort. Ye have nourished your hearts. --James v. 5. 5. To educate; to instruct; to bring up; to nurture; to promote the growth of in attainments. --Chaucer. Nourished up in the words of faith. --1 Tim. iv. 6. Syn: To cherish; feed; supply. See Nurture.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(nourishes, nourishing, nourished) 1. To nourish a person, animal, or plant means to provide them with the food that is necessary for life, growth, and good health. The food she eats nourishes both her and the baby. ...microbes in the soil which nourish the plant. VERB: V n, V n • nourishing Most of these nourishing substances are in the yolk of the egg. ...sensible, nourishing food. ADJ 2. To nourish something such as a feeling or belief means to allow or encourage it to grow. Journalists on the whole don't create public opinion. They can help to nourish it. VERB: V n 3. see also -nourished

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

nur'-ish (giddel, chiyyah, kilkel, ribbah; trepho, anatrepho, ektrepho, entrepho): While the word "nourish" was ordinarily an appropriate rendering in the time of the King James Version, the word has since become much less frequent, and some senses have largely passed out of ordinary use, so that the meaning would now in most cases be better expressed by some other word. Giddel means "to bring up," "rear (children)" (Isa 1:2, margin "made great"; Isa 23:4; Da 1:5); "cause (a tree) to grow" (Isa 44:14). Chiyyah means "to preserve alive" (with some implication of care) (2Sa 12:3; Isa 7:21, the American Standard Revised Version "keep alive"). Kilkal means "to support," "maintain" "provide for" (especially with food) (Ge 45:11; 47:12; 50:21). Ribbah means "to bring up," "rear (whelps)," in a figurative use Eze 19:2). Trepho means "to feed" (transitively) (Ac 12:20, the Revised Version (British and American) "feed"; Re 12:14); "to fatten" (Jas 5:5, the context indicating an unfavorable meaning). Anatrepho is "to bring up," "rear," like giddel (Ac 7:20,21); ektrepho is "to take care of" (Eph 5:29); entrepho means "to bring up in," "train in" (1Ti 4:6).

George Ricker Berry

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Nurture, nurse, feed, tend, supply with food or nutriment, furnish sustenance to. 2. Support, maintain, provide for. 3. Train, educate, instruct, breed, bring up. 4. Cherish, encourage, foster, promote, succor, foment. 5. Cherish, comfort.

Moby Thesaurus

abet, advance, aid, aid and abet, aliment, ask for, breast-feed, care for, cherish, coddle, cosset, countenance, cradle, cultivate, dry-nurse, encourage, fatten, fatten up, feed, fondle, force-feed, fortify, foster, give encouragement, harbor, help, invite, keep, keep in countenance, lactate, lavish care on, look after, maintain, mother, nurse, nurture, nutrify, pamper, promote, provide for, spoon-feed, stimulate, strengthen, stuff, suckle, support, sustain, take care of, wet-nurse