nurture
To care for something and help it grow.
nurture in a sentence
- Ava promised to nurture the tiny kitten until it was strong enough to climb the stairs by itself.
- Every morning Grandad would nurture his tomato seedlings with water and kind words until they grew tall.
Try an 11+ style question
Verbal reasoning papers often ask about a word like this.
Which word is closest in meaning to nurture?
- Aharm
- Bignore
- Craise
- Dneglect
Show the answer
C: raise. The other three mean the opposite of nurture.
Which word is most nearly opposite in meaning to nurture?
- Aneglect
- Braise
- Ctend
- Dfeed
Show the answer
A: neglect. The other three mean nearly the same as nurture.
Words that mean something similar
raise, feed, tend
Words that mean the opposite
neglect, ignore, harm
More words about behaviour & manners
- obedient: Doing what you are told without a fuss.
- oblige: To do something helpful that someone has asked you to do.
- obnoxious: Very rude and unpleasant in a way that annoys everyone.
- offend: To upset someone by being rude or unkind.
- oppose: To be against something and try to stop it.
- oppress: To treat people cruelly and unfairly, keeping them under control.
- painstaking: Done with great care and attention to every detail.
- pamper: To look after someone with too much care and comfort.
More words to explore
Sitting the 11+ in Kent, Medway or Buckinghamshire?
Plain-English guides to each test, from the councils’ own pages: Kent Test · Medway Test · Bucks Secondary Transfer Test