Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person, traditionally a woman, employed to take care of a child.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A nanny-goat.
  • noun In coal-mining, a natural joint, crack, or slip in the coal-measures: nearly the same as cleat.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A diminutive of Ann or Anne, the proper name.
  • noun [Colloq.] a female goat.
  • noun a caretaker for a child; a child's nurse; a nursemaid.
  • noun Grandmother; -- a child's word, used especially as a form of address. See also nana.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A child's nurse
  • noun colloquial A grandmother.
  • noun A female goat

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun female goat
  • noun a woman who is the custodian of children

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of nana.]

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Examples

  • Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has used the phrase "nanny state."

    Breaking News: CBS News 2012

  • I hope for every drunken nanny (that's what we call the nanny in my big sis's comment), there is a Laura and that she will be walking down your cul de sac soon and knowcking on your door.

    geneva conventions 2009

  • Like they have their own place separate from the Donald and his latest, as if the nanny is the mommy?

    Friday Miscellany | Her Bad Mother 2006

  • I remember Anson Guthrie remarking once that when he was young, Sweden was what he called a nanny state, but it got rid of that and nowadays people there are more free than in most countries, including North America.

    The Stars Are Also Fire Anderson, Poul, 1926-2001 1994

  • I remember Anson Guthrie remarking once that when he was young, Sweden was what he called a nanny state, but it got rid of that and nowadays people there are more free than in most countries, including North America.

    The Stars Are Also Fire Anderson, Poul, 1926-2001 1994

  • When you're at work, these strangers you call their nanny are the ones interacting with your kids.

    ReadABlog.com New Blogs and RSS Feeds 2010

  • Sara Gran quickly nails the fundamental weakness of CF's argument of "telling other women not to work and to raise their kids themselves ... as she's writing books and a nanny is watching her kids."

    Humour Maxine 2009

  • If a nanny is of use to their project, she will be enlisted.

    A Conversation with Gish Jen about The Love Wife 2010

  • Sara Gran quickly nails the fundamental weakness of CF's argument of "telling other women not to work and to raise their kids themselves ... as she's writing books and a nanny is watching her kids."

    Magazines Maxine 2009

  • "Whenever I called the nanny agencies [for work] before, right away they'd give me some families who wanted to interview me," says Natasha Ivanov, a Mountain View resident who has worked as a nanny here for 15 years.

    Soft Economy Eases Cost of Hiring a Nanny Pui-Wing Tam 2010

Comments

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  • "Children, look what Mummy's brought! A new Nanny! Come and say 'How do you do?'" - ''Yashima, or, The Gorgeous West'' by R T Sherwood, 1931.

    (Note the use of "nanny" instead of "nurse" -- what would Nancy Mitford have said about its U-ness?)

    December 24, 2008

  • Holmes sometimes calls Mrs. Hudson this.

    June 13, 2012