breast-feed

[English4everyone]

Can we use the verb "breast-feed" for animals too?
E.g. My dog breast-feeds her babies every day.
Or do we have to use "feed"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Use "nurses." The dog nurses her puppies.

 

[emsr2d2]

Or "suckles".

 

[MartinEnglish]

Sorry Dave but I've never heard "nurses"! - it makes me think of a labrador in an apron with a red cross.

I'd say "suckles" as Emsr2d2 said.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Suckles" is a bit of a graphic word for we puritan Americans. ;-)

 

[Barb_D]

Yup - This American agrees with Dave on usage on this side of the pond.

 

[emsr2d2]

We do hear "nurses" in the UK, but it's usually on animal documentaries. I can just hear David Attenborough whispering in the dark "And there's our lioness, nursing her two cubs ..."

As far as the non-use of "breast-feed" goes for animals, the main reason behind it (I assume) is that non-human animals do not have breasts. They have teats. I admit that I don't know if female apes/monkeys etc are considered to have breasts.