Nûrs'er-y, n.
n. [Cf. Fr. nourricerie.]
Sense 1. The act of nursing. “Her kind nursery.” [Obs.] Shak.
Sense 2. The place where nursing is carried on; as, (a.) The place, or apartment, in a house, appropriated to the care of children. (b.) A place where young trees are propagated for the purpose of being transplanted; a plantation of young trees. (c.) The place where any thing is fostered and growth promoted. “To see fair Padua, nursery of arts.” Shak.
Christian families are the nurseries of the church on earth, as she is the nursery of the church in heaven. J. M. Mason.
(d.) That which forms and educates; as, commerce is the nursery of seamen.
Sense 3. That which is the object of a nurse’s care. [Rare.] “Bud and bloom Her nursery.” Milton.