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nurture Definition

nur·ture (nʉrc̸hər)

noun

  1. anything that nourishes; food; nutriment
  2. the act or process of raising or promoting the development of; training, educating, fostering, etc.
  3. all the environmental factors, collectively, to which one is subjected from conception onward, as distinguished from one's nature or heredity

Etymology: ME < OFr norreture < LL nutritura, pp. of L nutrire, to nourish: see nurse

transitive verb -·tured, -·tur·ing

  1. to feed or nourish
    1. to promote the development of
    2. to raise by educating, training, etc.

nurture Related Forms
nur·tur·ant adjective or nur·tural nur·turer noun
nurture Synonyms

nurture

n.

  1. Nourishment

    pabulum, nutriment, sustenance; see food, subsistence 1.

  2. Training

    upbringing, breeding, care; see education 1, training.

nurture Synonyms

nurture

v.

nourish, care for, provide (for); see feed, sustain 2, train 4.

nurture Usage Examples

Object

  • talent: The club became renowned for nurturing youthful talent starting with the famous ' Busby Babes ' .
  • creativity: Creative Reading - June 2004 Report by Demos for The Reading Agency analyzing the role of libraries in nurturing creativity.
  • believer: To teach, baptize and nurture new believers - What helps people to learn?
  • generation: We are sure these initiatives will help to nurture a new generation of Festival lovers.
  • relationship: Based in the North West, LeKoa strives to nurture relationships with venues to produce new work.

Adjective modifier

  • spiritual: Spiritual nurture The spiritual nurture of minority ethnic members as for all members needs to be carefully considered.

Modifies a noun

  • group: An individual child may be a member of a nurture group for between 1 and 4 terms.

Modifying Another Word

  • lovingly: My most sacred dream, held and nurtured lovingly over so many years, was at last manifesting.
  • carefully: And a bitter grudge, hidden and carefully nurtured for thirteen years, is about to erupt.
  • thereby: It also funds postgraduate training within the social sciences, thereby nurturing the researchers of tomorrow.
  • properly: However, there are some good players in the reserve teams but its very important that their talent is managed and nurtured properly.
  • rather: They treat donors as colleagues rather than as customers: as a resource to be nurtured rather than ' exploited ' .
  • fully: Out-of-school activities provide alternative ways of learning and into areas not fully nurtured by within-school programs.

Used with why or when

  • that: It is the same sort of nature and nurture that shapes a lot of liberated yet lost young people.
  • what: This creation business has to lead somewhere, and I must nurture what is most valuable and cut out the rest.

Present participle complement

  • emerge: The PRS Foundation has announced the launch of its new funding scheme, British Music Abroad, to nurture emerging British music talent.
  • learn: Inspectors recognized the crucial role the project is playing in overcoming barriers to learning and creating a positive, nurturing learning environment.

Preposition: of

  • talent: A new initiative for 2000 was the Pumphouse, an informal venue that embraces experimentation, spontaneity and nurturing of new talent.
  • culture: Our pride in the Welsh way of life necessarily involves the nurture of Welsh culture.
nurture Quotes

No metaphor reinvents the job of the nurture of children except to muddy or mock. Palmerston

—Paley, Grace ne¤  e  Goodside

Browse dictionary entries near nurture

  1. nursling
  2. nursing home
  3. nursing bottle
  4. nursing
  5. nurseryman
  6. nursery school
  7. nursery rhyme
  8. nursery
  9. nursemaid
  10. nurse's aide
  1. nurturing
  2. nut
  3. nut-brown
  4. nut case
  5. nut pine
  6. nutant
  7. nutation
  8. nutbrown
  9. nutcracker
  10. nutgall