nest
a pocketlike, usually more or less circular structure of twigs, grass, mud, etc., formed by a bird, often high in a tree, as a place in which to lay and incubate its eggs and rear its young; any protected place used by a bird for these purposes.
a place used by insects, fishes, turtles, rabbits, etc., for depositing their eggs or young.
a number of birds, insects, animals, etc., inhabiting one such place.
a snug retreat or refuge; resting place; home.
an assemblage of things lying or set close together, as a series of boxes or trays, that fit within each other: a nest of tables.
a place where something bad is fostered or flourishes: a nest of vice; a robber's nest.
the occupants or frequenters of such a place.
to settle or place (something) in or as if in a nest: to nest dishes in straw.
to fit or place one within another: to nest boxes for more compact storage.
to build or have a nest: The swallows nested under the eaves.
to settle in or as if in a nest.
to fit together or within another or one another: bowls that nest easily for storage.
to search for or collect nests: to go nesting.
Computers. to place a routine inside another routine that is at a higher hierarchical level.
Origin of nest
1Other words from nest
- nest·a·ble, adjective
- nester, noun
- nestlike, adjective
- nesty, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use nest in a sentence
Those are saguaro cactuses…the big ones…birds make holes in them and build their nests inside.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Capitol used Tracker Jacker nests like land mines throughout the districts.
Most of us had long abandoned the notion of fortified nests.
The Extinction Parade: An Original Zombie Story by Max Brooks | Max Brooks | January 14, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTThe nests looked flimsy to Phoebe—they were just bunches of sticks—and it looked to her like they might fall out of the trees.
One day, they saw dozens of Great Blue herons tending to nests in some dead trees by a marsh.
Not much use as the high crests hid the intervening hinterland from view, even from the crow's nests.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonProbably the swallows were nesting in the cenote although the nests were inaccessible to view.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula | Erwin E. KlaasAmong many people in the East, no food is thought so great a dainty as these edible birds' nests.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeThey then cough it up and use this material they have so oddly prepared in making their nests.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton WadeWhenever a man makes it his business to search for these nests, he knows the danger full well.
Alila, Our Little Philippine Cousin | Mary Hazelton Wade
British Dictionary definitions for nest
/ (nɛst) /
a place or structure in which birds, fishes, insects, reptiles, mice, etc, lay eggs or give birth to young
a number of animals of the same species and their young occupying a common habitat: an ants' nest
a place fostering something undesirable: a nest of thievery
the people in such a place: a nest of thieves
a cosy or secluded place
a set of things, usually of graduated sizes, designed to fit together: a nest of tables
military a weapon emplacement: a machine-gun nest
(intr) to make or inhabit a nest
(intr) to hunt for birds' nests
(tr) to place in a nest
Origin of nest
1Derived forms of nest
- nester, noun
- nestlike, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with nest
see empty nest; feather one's nest; foul one's nest; stir up a hornet's nest.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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