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definitions

nest egg

See more synonyms for nest egg on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. money saved and held in reserve for emergencies, retirement, etc.
  2. a natural or artificial egg placed in a nest to induce a hen to continue laying eggs there.

Origin of nest egg

First recorded in 1600–10
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for nest egg

cache, stash, savings, stockpile, backup, funds, investment, means, provisions, reserve, resources

Examples from the Web for nest egg

Historical Examples of nest egg

  • With us, when we have made a little money we keep it to be a nest-egg to make more from.

  • "The nest-egg for the second generation of Fletchers," he grinned.

    A Son of the City

    Herman Gastrell Seely

  • He may run them with the flocks, sell the wool, and keep the money as a nest-egg.

    The Story of Wool

    Sara Ware Bassett

  • We have kept a nest-egg in the bank, too, all the time, in case we did get stuck.

  • So it was you, Unc' Billy Possum, who kicked that nest-egg out.

British Dictionary definitions for nest egg

nest egg

noun
  1. a fund of money kept in reserve; savings
  2. a natural or artificial egg left in a nest to induce hens to lay their eggs in it
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