nest

NEST/nɛst/

20 meanings of nest

1
nouncountable
A cup-shaped home a bird builds to hold its eggs and raise its young.
Like a tiny home a bird makes to keep its eggs safe.
A robin built a nest in the apple tree.
The baby birds stayed warm inside the nest.
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2
verbintransitive
To make a nest, or to settle down comfortably into one.
Like a bird making a cozy home before laying its eggs.
Swallows nest under the bridge every spring.
The ducks nested near the pond all summer.
Similarbreed, settle, snuggle, burrow
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3
nouncountable
A warm, comfortable home, or a safe and easy job.
Like a warm bed you never want to get out of.
After years of moving, they finally found a cozy little nest in the suburbs.
Her new office felt like a safe nest where she could work in peace.
Similarhaven, retreat, refuge, niche
4
nouncountable
The family home where a child or young person lives with a parent.
Like the warm home a young bird leaves once it can fly.
At eighteen, she left the nest to study in another city.
Both sons still lived in the nest while saving for their own places.
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5
nouncountable
A place where an animal such as a fish, frog, or insect lays its eggs and raises its young.
Like a safe little home where eggs can stay warm until they hatch.
The wasps built a nest under the roof of the shed.
A frog made a foamy nest for her eggs near the pond.
6
verbtransitive
To put one thing inside another, and that inside a bigger one, and so on.
Like fitting measuring cups inside each other from biggest to smallest.
Nest the smaller bowls inside the bigger ones to save room.
She nested the storage boxes one inside another.
Similarfit, stack
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7
verbintransitive
To fit neatly one inside another, piece by piece.
These bowls nest together so they take up less space.
The chairs nested neatly when stacked for storage.
Similarfit
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8
nouncountable
A set of boxes or cases of different sizes that fit inside one another.
Like a set of measuring cups that all fit together in one stack.
She bought a nest of mixing bowls for the kitchen.
The shop sold a nest of wooden boxes painted in bright colors.
9
nouncountable
A place where criminals or other bad people hide and gather.
Like a secret hideout where bad people meet.
The old warehouse had become a nest for thieves and smugglers.
Police raided the nest where the gang had been hiding.
Similarden, lair, hideout
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10
nouncountable
A quiet place someone goes to often to relax or get away.
Like a favorite spot you always go back to when you want peace.
The little cabin was his nest whenever he needed to get away.
She made the library her nest during exam week.
Similarhaunt, retreat, hideaway, den

11
verbintransitive
To settle in and make a place feel like your own home.
Like a bird settling into its home and getting cozy.
After the move, they slowly began to nest in their new apartment.
She nested happily in the cozy cabin all winter.
Similarsettle, cocoon
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12
verbtransitive
To put something into a nest, or into a snug place like one.
Like tucking eggs into a soft bed of straw.
We nest the eggs in soft straw to keep them safe.
He nested the fragile vase in a box of soft padding.
Similarplace, settle, bed
13
nouncountable
A protected spot where soldiers set up a gun or other weapon.
Like a small fort built just to hold one gun.
The soldiers built a machine-gun nest on the hilltop.
Enemy fire came from a hidden nest near the bridge.
Similaremplacement, position, post
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14
nouncountable
A group of things placed one inside another, like smaller loops inside bigger loops in a program.
Like measuring spoons that fit one inside the next.
The program had a nest of loops that ran one inside another.
A deep nest of folders made the files hard to find.
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15
nouncountable
A round bed of pasta or rice shaped to hold other food on top.
Like a little bowl made out of noodles.
The chef arranged the shrimp on a nest of noodles.
She served the lamb in a small rice nest.
Similarbed
16
nouncountable
A tight group of parts like gears or springs that work together as one.
Like a bunch of gears packed tightly to run a machine.
The watchmaker examined the tiny nest of springs inside the case.
A nest of gears turned smoothly behind the clock face.
Similarcluster, assembly
17
nouncountable
A lump of ore or mineral packed together on its own inside a rock.
Like a clump of raisins stuck together inside a slice of bread.
Miners found a rich nest of copper ore deep in the rock.
The geologist marked a small nest of crystals in the cliff face.
Similarpocket, deposit
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18
nouncountable
A set number of extra cards given to the top bidder, who can swap them with cards in their hand.
Like getting a few spare cards to trade for better ones in your hand.
The winning bidder picked up the nest and traded two cards.
She studied the nest before choosing which cards to discard.
Similarkitty, widow
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19
verbintransitive
To go looking for birds' nests or the eggs and baby birds in them.
Every spring the boys went nesting in the woods, hoping to find blackbird eggs.
They went nesting along the river on Saturday mornings.
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20
nounslangvulgarUScountable
A rude slang word for the hair around a woman's private parts, or those parts themselves.
He made a crude joke about her nest and got slapped for it.
She told him to keep his hands away from her nest.
Similarbeaver
Note

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1, 3–5, 8–10, 13–18, 20

An old English word, going back to a Proto-Indo-European word for "nest" that literally meant "where the bird sits down."

Meanings 2, 6–7, 11–12, 19

An old English word meaning "to nest" or "build a nest."