▪ I. dry-nurse, n.
[Cf. dry a. 4 b.]
1. A woman who takes care of and attends to a child, but does not suckle it (opp. to wet-nurse); formerly, also, in the general sense of ‘nurse’. Phr. at dry nurse (cf. nurse n.1 2 a).
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. ii. 3 One Mistris Quickly; which is in the manner of his Nurse; or his dry-Nurse; or his Cooke. a 1618 Raleigh To Son ii. in Remains (1661) 84 After a while thou didst love thy Drie-nurse, and didst forget the other. 1663 Tuke Adv. 5 Hours v. iii, There's no cook, nor dry-nurse, like a wife. 1731 Swift To Gay 8 Make a dry-nurse of thy muse? 1839 R. Barham in Bentley's Misc. VI. 640 Neglecting the poor little dear out at dry-nurse. 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. iii. iii, To play the dry-nurse to three starving brats. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley III. ix. 206 Mrs. Horsfall had him at dry-nurse. |
2. fig. A man who is charged with ‘looking after’ another; esp. one who instructs or ‘coaches’ a superior in his duties.
| 1614 B. Jonson Bart. Fair i. (Rtldg.) 310/2 Well, this dry nurse..is a delicate man. c 1640 Capt. Underwit in Bullen O. Pl. II. 322 (Farmer) You must have a dry nurse, as many Captaines have..I can hire you an old limping decayed sergeant at Brainford. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 371 Grand caterer and dry nurse of the church! 1820 Scott Monast. vi, The old general who, in foreign armies, is placed at the elbow of the Prince of the Blood, who nominally commands in chief, on condition of attempting nothing without the advice of his dry-nurse. 1826 Wellington in Croker P. (1884) I. xi. 343 When the Horse Guards are obliged to employ one of those fellows like me in whom they have no confidence, they give him what is called a second in command—one in whom they have confidence—a kind of dry nurse. |
▪ II. dry-nurse, v.
[f. prec. n. or f. dry adv. + nurse.]
trans. To bring up ‘by hand’, without the breast; to play the dry-nurse to (lit. and fig.); to ‘coach’ or instruct (a superior) in his duties.
| 1581 Rich Farewell (Shaks. Soc.) 185 Her daughter..she committed to the outlawes..who..promised to drie nurse the child so well as thei could till she should make retourne. 1663 Butler Hud. i. ii. 168 As Romulus a Wolf did rear So he was dry-nurs'd by a Bear. 1767 Mrs. S. Pennington Lett. IV. 13 A round flexible pipe might be contrived for the feeding dry-nursed children. 1840 Marryat Poor Jack ii, She had dry-nursed a young baronet. 1862 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. x. iv. (1865) III. 246 Franz of Lorraine bears the title of Commander, whom Seckendorf is to dry-nurse. 1894 Wolseley Marlborough I. 282 Some regular officers who had been selected..for the purpose of dry-nursing their inexperienced colonels. |