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  fossorial Foster, Stephen Collins  
CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
   The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.  2000.
 
foster
 
SYLLABICATION:fos·ter
PRONUNCIATION:  fôstr, fstr
TRANSITIVE VERB:Inflected forms: fos·tered, fos·ter·ing, fos·ters
1. To bring up; nurture: bear and foster offspring. See synonyms at nurture. 2. To promote the growth and development of; cultivate: detect and foster artistic talent. See synonyms at advance. 3. To nurse; cherish: foster a secret hope.
ADJECTIVE:1. Providing parental care and nurture to children not related through legal or blood ties: foster parents; foster grandparents; a foster home. 2. Receiving parental care and nurture from those not related to one through legal or blood ties: foster children.
ETYMOLOGY:Middle English fostren, from Old English *fstrian, to nourish, from fstor, food, nourishing. See p- in Appendix I.
 
 
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS · INDEX · ILLUSTRATIONS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
  fossorial Foster, Stephen Collins  
 
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