noun

nurture

NURR-chuhr

noun

Care and encouragement given to help someone or something grow and develop.

"The plants thrived under her careful nurture."

The environmental and social influences on a person's development, as opposed to inherited traits.

"The debate over nature versus nurture is far from settled."

verb

To care for and encourage the growth or development of someone or something.

"The teacher nurtured her students' curiosity from an early age."

"He had nurtured the small business for over a decade."

How to Use Nurture

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo care for and help something grow, or the environment and upbringing that shapes a person.

Common pairings

nature versus nurture nurture a talent nurture a relationship

nurtured past tense, nurtures plural, nurtures singular

Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.

Can you complete this real example?

The plants thrived under her careful _____.

From Old French norriture, "nourishment", from Latin nutrire, "to nourish".

encourage foster feed grow cultivate promote raise

destroy hinder

increase shrink create kill build feed grow tout

pure cure sure lure Kure azure nature future manure secure impure injure

encourage foster feed grow cultivate promote raise destroy hinder increase shrink create