dry nurse
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Sense 1
An inferior officer who carries on the duty on board ship, due to the captain's ignorance of seamanship.
Register: archaic, slang
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Sense 2
when an inferior officer on board ship carries on the duty, on account of the captain’s ignorance of seamanship, the junior officer is said to DRY-NURSE his captain. Majors and adjutants in the army also not unfrequently DRY-NURSE the colonels of their regiments in a similar manner. The sergeant who coaches very young officers, is called a "wet nurse." The abolition of purchase has, however, considerably modified all this.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “dry nurse” mean?
An inferior officer who carries on the duty on board ship, due to the captain's ignorance of seamanship.
Is “dry nurse” formal or informal?
dry nurse is generally archaic, slang.