nursegirl

English

Etymology

From nurse +‎ girl.

Noun

nursegirl (plural nursegirls)

1. A young woman employed to look after a baby or young child. [from 18th c.]
   • 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     The reapers were slowly trooping back to their work. The nurse-girl slapped one of her charges and then began to push the perambulator up the hill.

   • 1954, Doris Lessing, A Proper Marriage, HarperPerennial, published 1995, page 330:

     Caroline was that hard and unalterable fact which turned Martha's life, in spite of a pleasant and helpful nursegirl, into a routine which began at five sharp every morning when the light first showed, and ended at seven in the evening, when she went to bed.

2. A young woman who help to take care of the sick or infirm.

Anagrams

• rulerings