NOURISHMENT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does nourishment mean? 

• NOURISHMENT (noun)
  The noun NOURISHMENT has 2 senses:

1. a source of materials to nourish the body

2. the act of nourishing

  Familiarity information: NOURISHMENT used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NOURISHMENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A source of materials to nourish the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting foods and drinks

Synonyms:

aliment; alimentation; nourishment; nutriment; nutrition; sustenance; victuals

Hypernyms ("nourishment" is a kind of...):

food; nutrient (any substance that can be metabolized by an animal to give energy and build tissue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "nourishment"):

milk (produced by mammary glands of female mammals for feeding their young)

course (part of a meal served at one time)

dainty; delicacy; goody; kickshaw; treat (something considered choice to eat)

dish (a particular item of prepared food)

fast food (inexpensive food (hamburgers or chicken or milkshakes) prepared and served quickly)

finger food (food to be eaten with the fingers)

ingesta (solid and liquid nourishment taken into the body through the mouth)

kosher (food that fulfills the requirements of Jewish dietary law)

meal; repast (the food served and eaten at one time)

mess (soft semiliquid food)

mince (food chopped into small bits)

puree (food prepared by cooking and straining or processed in a blender)

stodge (heavy and filling (and usually starchy) food)

wheat germ (embryo of the wheat kernel; removed before milling and eaten as a source of vitamins)

vitamin (any of a group of organic substances essential in small quantities to normal metabolism)

Derivation:

nourish (provide with nourishment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of nourishing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

her nourishment of the orphans saved many lives

Hypernyms ("nourishment" is a kind of...):

aid; attention; care; tending (the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something)

Derivation:

nourish (give nourishment to)

 Context examples 

As the tumor burden grows, vascular endothial cells are recruited to form new blood vessels as an increased demand for blood and nourishment is required.

(Neoangiogenesis, NCI Thesaurus)

Maud made the discovery in the afternoon while trying to give him nourishment.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

To supply with nourishment; give food to.

(Feeding, NCI Thesaurus)

Any condition related to a disturbance between proper intake and utilization of nourishment.

(Nutritional Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)

Nutritional support is therapy for people who cannot get enough nourishment by eating or drinking.

(Nutritional Support, NIH)

A rare, slow-growing tumor that begins in the oligodendrocytes (brain cells that provide support and nourishment for nerve cells).

(Oligodendroglial tumor, NCI Dictionary)

As I was in a state of extreme debility, I resolved to sail directly towards the town, as a place where I could most easily procure nourishment.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She got up with a headache, was unable to talk, and unwilling to take any nourishment; giving pain every moment to her mother and sisters, and forbidding all attempt at consolation from either.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

It was composed of stringy filaments saturated with water, like the berries, and devoid of nourishment.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

She was hardly able to turn her head, and the little nourishment which she could take seemed to do her no good.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)