nursing

Etymology

adj

1. In the state of suckling young, lactating.
   The nursing bear wouldn't move far until her cubs were older.
2. Referring to nurses.
   The nursing staff worked overtime at the hospital.

noun

1. Suckling, such as breastfeeding.
2. The process or profession of caring for patients as a nurse.
   She went into nursing as a career.
   Nursing is an art; and, if it is to be made an art, requires as exclusive a devotion, as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; […] 1871, Florence Nightingale, Una and the Lion, page 6

verb

1. present participle and gerund of nurse
   The mother sat there nursing her baby.