nook
Americannoun
-
nooks
plural
-
a corner, as in a room.
-
any secluded or obscure corner.
-
any small recess.
a breakfast nook.
-
any remote or sheltered spot.
a shady nook that was ideal for a picnic.
noun
-
a corner or narrow recess, as in a room
-
a secluded or sheltered place; retreat
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of nook
1250–1300; Middle English nok
Explanation
A nook is a cozy little corner or a small, safe area. A nook in the library can be a nice place to sit and read. If you have a "breakfast nook" in your kitchen, you know it's a space set back from the main room, maybe built into a corner or under a window, where you can sit at a small table. All nooks are small and sheltered in some way. You may have come across nook in the phrase "nook and cranny." This is often meant figuratively, as when you search every single nook and cranny in your whole house looking for your wallet.
Vocabulary lists containing nook
The BFG
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Mississippi Trial, 1955
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A reading nook looks out at Yankee Stadium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Adjacent to the kitchen, there is an adorable breakfast nook with French doors that open up to the perfectly manicured grounds.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
AI companies have been working tirelessly to stuff generative and agentic AI into every nook and cranny of our online lives.
From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026
Ghazal Tansir, a Delhi-based doctor who first visited the club for her wedding reception in 2019 through a relative's membership, described it as "a preserved, undisturbed little nook of memories".
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
He’s big and fast and has become like a shadow.Yet every time Mark looks back at him, he seems to disappear into some nook or cranny.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
All the little nooks and crannies of our lives enjoy Fourth Amendment protections.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
It’s a good time to find those nooks and crannies.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
“I was just writing poems about my crazy-ass family. It’s just so wild that the purest parts of me, the most nooks and crannies, are the ones that people connect with the most,” Salgado said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
A narrow lane in Mumbai city's upmarket Colaba area opens up to a patch of land filled with small concrete cubicles - nooks washermen use to clean and dry the city's laundry.
From BBC ● Feb. 18, 2026
Crumbling stone dwellings of the long-vanished Kayenta Anasazi, the creators of this rock art, nestle in protective nooks.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
