As a verb, to wet-nurse someone means to look after them far more than a grown person needs — to feed them, fix their problems, and follow them around as if they were a helpless baby. It is a complaint, almost always.

As a verb當動詞用時， to wet-nurse someone means to look after them far more than a grown person needswet-nurse某人的意思是照顧他們照顧到遠超過一個成年人需要的程度—— to feed them, fix their problems, and follow them around as if they were a helpless baby餵他們、幫他們解決問題、像對待無助的嬰兒一樣跟前跟後。 It is a complaint, almost always幾乎都是帶著抱怨的口氣。

A manager says "I can't wet-nurse you through every job" and means: you are an adult, do it yourself. A teacher might say a class has been wet-nursed for too long.

A manager says "I can't wet-nurse you through every job"主管說「I can't wet-nurse you through every job」的時候， and means: you are an adult, do it yourself意思是：你是大人了，自己做。 A teacher might say a class has been wet-nursed for too long老師可能會說一個班級被wet-nursed太久了。

The picture behind it is strong and a little rude, so it is not a polite office word; it is what someone says when they are tired or annoyed. English has several near neighbours here — spoon-feed, babysit, hand-hold, mollycoddle — and wet-nurse is at the harsher end of them.

The picture behind it is strong and a little rude背後的畫面很強烈也有點粗魯， so it is not a polite office word所以不是辦公室裡有禮貌的用詞； it is what someone says when they are tired or annoyed是一個人累了或不耐煩時才會說的話。 English has several near neighbours here英文裡有幾個意思相近的詞—— spoon-feed, babysit, hand-hold, mollycoddle像spoon-feed、babysit、hand-hold、mollycoddle—— and wet-nurse is at the harsher end of them而wet-nurse是這幾個裡面語氣最重的。

Note that the same spelling is also a noun with the older, plain meaning: a wet nurse (often two words) was a woman paid to breastfeed another woman's baby, a real and common job in the past, and that is where the criticism comes from.

Note that the same spelling is also a noun with the older, plain meaning要注意同樣的拼法也是名詞，有比較古老、直白的意思： a wet nurse (often two words) was a woman paid to breastfeed another woman's babywet nurse（常拆成兩個字）是指被雇來餵別人小孩母奶的女性， a real and common job in the past過去是真實而常見的工作， and that is where the criticism comes from而那份抱怨的語氣也是從這裡來的。

The verb is more common in British English than American, and it is not very frequent in either; you will meet it in novels and in speech more than in writing. It is usually written with a hyphen as a verb: wet-nurse, wet-nursed, wet-nursing.

The verb is more common in British English than American這個動詞在英式英文比美式英文常見， and it is not very frequent in either不過在兩邊都不算常見； you will meet it in novels and in speech more than in writing你比較會在小說和口語裡遇到它，而不是書面文字。 It is usually written with a hyphen as a verb當動詞用的時候通常會加連字號： wet-nurse, wet-nursed, wet-nursingwet-nurse、wet-nursed、wet-nursing。