Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A nursing infant or young animal.
  • noun A carefully nurtured person or thing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who or that which is nursed; an infant; a child; a fondling.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who, or that which, is nursed; an infant; a fondling.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A young child or animal being nursed

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an infant considered in relation to its nurse

Etymologies

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Examples

  • You should know best, but is it suitable to term the nursling and the parent by the same title?

    Girlhood and Womanhood The Story of some Fortunes and Misfortunes Sarah Tytler 1870

  • And with an earnest credulity, which contained the germ of purest faith, she, remembering the mother's dream, called her nursling by the name of Olive.

    Olive A Novel Dinah Maria Mulock Craik 1856

  • As the mother of two-out-of-three kids with food allergies, I miss not only eating what I want when I want, but also not having to do a mental inventory of all the ingredients in each mouthful of food to judge whether or not my nursling will have a reaction. (sigh)

    10 Things To Do Before You Become A Parent | Her Bad Mother 2009

  • It is a decision that you alone can make, taking the needs of yourself and your nursling into account.

    » Weaning, Partial Weaning and Mixed Feelings Strocel.com 2009

  • Having my nursling there made me feel so split as well.

    That’s Me In The Corner | Her Bad Mother 2008

  • In my ignorance, I had not thought to wonder what a nursing mother does if deprived of her nursling.

    Sick Cycle Carousel 2010

  • As the mother of two-out-of-three kids with food allergies, I miss not only eating what I want when I want, but also not having to do a mental inventory of all the ingredients in each mouthful of food to judge whether or not my nursling will have a reaction. sigh

    10 Things To Do Before You Become A Parent 2009

  • She uttered these words with an affectionate and anxious tone, which showed, that devotional as were the habitual exercises of her mind, the thoughts of her nursling yet bound her to earth with the cords of human affection and passion.

    The Abbot 2008

  • He has ceased now to be parochial; he is a nursling of the World and Time.

    Henrik Ibsen 2008

  • He has ceased now to be parochial; he is a nursling of the World and Time.

    Henrik Ibsen 2008

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