nanny
nanny Lexical Profile
nanny Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person, typically a woman, employed by a family to care for children in their own home.
"The working parents hired an experienced nanny to look after their toddlers during the week."
An affectionate, informal term used by a child for their grandmother.
"Every Sunday afternoon, the children went to visit their nanny for homemade cookies."
An overly protective, meddlesome, or paternalistic person, organization, or institution.
"Critics argued that the new municipal regulations turned the local council into a bureaucratic nanny."
An adult female goat, typically a domesticated member of the family Bovidae kept for milk, meat, or fiber.
"The farmer led the pregnant nanny into a clean stall in the barn before nightfall."
• verb
To work as a child's caregiver or look after children in a household.
"She nannied for a diplomat's family in Geneva for two years after graduating from college."
To be overly protective, controlling, or solicitous toward someone.
"Stop nannying me about my diet and let me order whatever I want from the menu."
• Rhymes for nanny
Word Origin & Etymology
Recorded in the late 18th century, the word originates from children's nursery speech, either as an affectionate diminutive of the female given name Anne (Nanny) or from childish reduplication akin to 'nana'.