Meanings
noundry nurse (plural dry nurses)
plural dry nurses
- historicalA nurse who takes care of a baby, but does not breastfeed.
The family found a dry nurse to take care of the infant.
- archaicslangnauticalAn inferior officer who carries on the duty on board ship, due to the captain's ignorance of seamanship.
verbdry nurse (third-person singular simple present dry nurses, present participle dry nursing, simple past and past participle dry nursed)
present singular third person dry nurses · participle present dry nursing · participle past dry nursed · past dry nursed
- To feed, attend, and bring up without suckling.
- archaicslangnauticalOf an inferior officer: to carry on the duty on board ship, due to the captain's ignorance of seamanship.
Origin
To distinguish from a wet nurse, who suckles a baby.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Irish banaltra, cailín páistí
- banaltraa nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
- cailín páistía nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
Polish piastunka
- piastunkaa nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
Portuguese ama-seca
- ama-secaa nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
Scottish Gaelic muime-altram
- muime-altrama nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
Spanish ama seca, ama de brazos
- ama secaa nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
- ama de brazosa nurse who attends and feeds a child by hand
Cite this entry
APA
dry nurse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20nurse
MLA
“dry nurse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20nurse. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dry nurse,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dry%20nurse.
Source: dry nurse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.