nest

[ nest ]

/ nɛst /

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noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

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.

Nearby words

Origin of nest

before 900; Middle English, Old English (cognate with Dutch, German nest; akin to Latin nīdus nest, Old Irish net, Welsh nyth, Sanskrit nīḍa lair) ≪ Indo-European *nizdo- bird's nest, equivalent to *ni down (see nether) + *zd-, variant of *sd-, ablaut variant of *sed-, v. base meaning “sit” (see sit¹) + *-o- theme vowel

Related formsnest·a·ble, adjectivenest·er, nounnest·like, adjectivenest·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for nesting

The birds have returned to the beach for their annual nesting—and the uncommon people never left.
Six Months After Sandy, the Rockaway Story Continues|Michael Daly|April 29, 2013|DAILY BEAST
In the Cavour high school in central Rome, mice run through the halls, nibbling on open wiring and nesting in the lockers.
In Italy, Angry Students Occupy Schools|Barbie Latza Nadeau|November 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Durnford found it nesting at Tombo Point, sixty miles south of the Chupat river.
Argentine Ornithology, Volume II (of 2)|P. L. Sclater
Does he receive his critiques from Eaton or Harrow—based on the experience of a week's birds'-nesting and its consequences?
Modern Painters Volume I (of V)|John Ruskin

While this nesting was going on I could hear five different birds at once either in the garden or from any of the windows.
Nature Near London|Richard Jefferies
It is a fresh water fowl, and exclusively so in the selection of its nesting haunts.
Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography [July 1897]|Various
They breed abundantly on the marshes of northern Alaska and Greenland, nesting the same as others of the species.
The Bird Book|Chester A. Reed

British Dictionary definitions for nesting

nesting

/ (ˈnɛstɪŋ) /

noun

the tendency to arrange one's immediate surroundings, such as a work station, to create a place where one feels secure, comfortable, or in control

nest

/ (nɛst) /

noun

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 habitatan ants' nest

a place fostering something undesirablea nest of thievery

the people in such a placea nest of thieves

a cosy or secluded place

a set of things, usually of graduated sizes, designed to fit togethera nest of tables

military a weapon emplacementa machine-gun nest

verb

(intr) to make or inhabit a nest

(intr) to hunt for birds' nests

(tr) to place in a nest

Derived Formsnester, nounnestlike, adjective

Word Origin for nest

Old English; related to Latin nīdus (nest) and to beneath, sit

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

Word Origin and History for nesting

nesting

adj.

1650s, "making or using a nest," past participle adjective from nest (v.). Of objects, "fitted into one another," from 1934.

nest

Old English nistan "to build nests," from Proto-Germanic *nistijanan, from the source of nest (n.). The modern verb is perhaps a new formation in Middle English from the noun. Related: Nested; nesting.

nest

Old English nest "bird's nest, snug retreat," also "young bird, brood," from Proto-Germanic *nistaz (cf. Middle Low German, Middle Dutch nest, German Nest), from PIE *nizdo- (cf. Sanskrit nidah "resting place, nest," Latin nidus "nest," Old Church Slavonic gnezdo, Old Irish net, Welsh nyth, Breton nez "nest"), probably from *ni "down" + *sed- (1) "to sit" (see sedentary).

Used since Middle English in reference to various accumulations of things (e.g. a nest of drawers, early 18c.). Nest egg "retirement savings" is from 1700, originally "a real or artificial egg left in a nest to induce the hen to go on laying there" (c.1600).

Idioms and Phrases with nesting

nest

see empty nest; feather one's nest; foul one's nest; stir up a hornet's nest.

nest

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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