creche ˈkresh , ˈkrāsh noun
1. a representation of Christ’s nativity in the stable at Bethlehem
2. a hospital where foundlings (infant children of unknown parents) are taken in and cared for
3. a group of young animals cared for by one adult
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The word creche has appeared in four articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Aug. 3 in “Wild Pups Romp Again in an African Paradise” by Natalie Angier:
Yet the wild dogs were unbowed, and this year, after migrating to a less serpent-y sector of Gorongosa’s one million acres, they made up for lost time in spectacular fashion. Beira give birth in late April to 11 pups, who emerged from their den in early June and appear on camera trap footage to be thriving, as well as inexcusably cute (although the runt of the litter eventually died).
… Gorongosa’s pup eruption didn’t end there. Not far from the Beira-Nhamagaia creche, a group of four adult dogs that had split off from the original pack in the spring — three males and one female — appeared to be successfully rearing yet another litter of eight pups.
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