nestling

Pluralnestlings

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A small young bird that is not yet able to leave the nest.

   The robin made dozens of trips an hour to feed her hungry nestlings.

   The storm brought down the nest, but a neighbor found the nestling alive in the grass.

   Similarchick

   Note

   The bird's name is built from nest and -ling, the suffix of duckling and gosling, and goes back to Middle English. It only looks like the -ing form of nestle: that word is nestle plus -ing, a separate formation whose meanings are all about settling in snugly.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of nestle.

   Nestling into the corner of the sofa, she opened her book.

   We rented a cabin nestling among the pines at the edge of the lake.

   Note

   Beyond the ordinary progressive (she was nestling against him), the participle often describes a place that lies sheltered and half-hidden: a cabin nestling among the pines. It can also stand before a noun, as in the nestling valleys F. G. Roe found snuggled against the hills in Railway Magazine in 1949. It shares only its spelling with the word for a young bird.

3. 3
   NES-ling/ˈnɛslɪŋ/

   noununcountable

   The act of settling snugly into a comfortable spot or pressing close against someone with affection.

   The baby's sleepy nestling against her shoulder told her it was time for bed.

   After some contented nestling into the deep armchair, Grandpa was snoring.

   Similarsnuggling, cuddling

   Note

   As a noun it counts single acts of snuggling close, and its plural collides with that of the young bird. In Actions Speak Louder than Words, the loving nestlings in mother's arms are moments of being held, not chicks; the company the word keeps there, coddlings before the fire, makes the meaning plain.

Showing meanings only. Show all 4