nursemaid

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a woman or girl employed to look after young children

   The nursemaid pushed the infant through the park in a perambulator.

2. 2
   verb

   to watch over, guide, or protect someone with excessive care

   The supervisor refused to nursemaid the two recruits through every routine task.

A compound of nurse + maid. The occupational noun denotes a female domestic servant responsible for children; the later verb extends that work figuratively to close or excessive supervision.

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