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• empty nester
  empty nester

  noun

  a parent whose children have reached adulthood and left home.
• empty-nester
  empty-nester

  noun

  a married person whose children have grown up and left home

empty nester

American  

Or empty-nester

noun

1. a parent whose children have reached adulthood and left home.

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empty-nester British  

noun

1. informal a married person whose children have grown up and left home

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Etymology

Origin of empty nester

First recorded in 1960–65; empty nest + -er ¹