NOURISH

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nourish mean? 

• NOURISH (verb)
  The verb NOURISH has 2 senses:

1. provide with nourishment

2. give nourishment to

  Familiarity information: NOURISH used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOURISH (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they nourish    ... he / she / it nourishes   
Past simple: nourished   
Past participle: nourished   
-ing form: nourishing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide with nourishment

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

nourish; nurture; sustain

Context example:

This kind of food is not nourishing for young children

Hypernyms (to "nourish" is one way to...):

cater; ply; provide; supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "nourish"):

carry (be able to feed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

nourishment (a source of materials to nourish the body)

nutrient (of or providing nourishment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give nourishment to

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

aliment; nourish; nutrify

Hypernyms (to "nourish" is one way to...):

feed; give (give food to)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

nourishment (the act of nourishing)

nutrient (of or providing nourishment)

 Context examples 

When you eat, your body breaks food down to a form it can use to build and nourish cells and provide energy.

(Digestive Diseases, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

The liquid that covers cells in a culture dish and contains nutrients to nourish and support the cells.

(Culture medium, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

An organism that nourishes and supports another but does not benefit by the association; recipient of transplanted tissue or organ from a donor.

(Host, NCI Thesaurus)

The taking in and use of food and other nourishing material by the body.

(Nutrition, NCI Dictionary)

There were the broad outer and inner bailies, not paved, but sown with grass to nourish the sheep and cattle which might be driven in on sign of danger.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The organ that nourishes the developing fetus in the uterus.

(Placenta, NCI Dictionary)

Everything nourishes what is strong already.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The placenta that nourished the baby follows.

(Childbirth, Dept. of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health)

I sit down by the fire, thinking with a blind remorse of all those secret feelings I have nourished since my marriage.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

These circumstances, added to the refreshment I had received by their victuals and drink, which were very nourishing, disposed me to sleep.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)