empty nest

American  

noun

1. a household in which one or more parents live after the children have left home.

   Our only child just moved into her first apartment, so we have an empty nest.

2. a stage in a parent’s life after the children have left home.

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empty nest Cultural  

1. The stage in a family's cycle when the children have grown up and left home to begin their own adult lives.

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empty nest Idioms  

1. The home of parents whose children have grown up and moved out. For example, Now that they had an empty nest, Jim and Jane opened a bed-and-breakfast. This expression, alluding to a nest from which baby birds have flown, gave rise to such related ones as empty-nester, for a parent whose children had moved out, and empty-nest syndrome, for the state of mind of parents whose children had left. [c. 1970]

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Discover More

For parents, the empty nest sometimes results in midlife anxiety.

Etymology

Origin of empty nest

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

Now I’m 64 years old, my wife and I have an empty nest, so I’m happy to dip my toe back in more.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026

He was angry that I even considered uprooting our empty nest for such a pursuit.

From Salon • Nov. 3, 2024

Like many members of Generation X facing an empty nest, the Shipleys decided to look for a home better suited to their needs where they could eventually live in retirement.

From New York Times • Apr. 6, 2024

With my son, I’m on the verge of having an empty nest and it’s killing me that my best friend is about to move on and become his own person.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024

The male owl would not bring food to an empty nest.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George