nest
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
nest/nest/
▶noun
- 1 a structure or place made or chosen by a bird for laying eggs and sheltering its young.
■ a place where an animal or insect breeds or shelters.
■ a snug or secluded retreat.
■ a bowl-shaped object.
- 2 a place filled with undesirable people or things: a nest of spies.
- 3 a set of similar objects of graduated sizes, fitting together for storage.
- 1 use or build a nest.
- 2 fit (an object or objects) inside a larger one.
- 3 (especially in computing and linguistics) place in a lower position in a hierarchy.
– derivatives
nester noun,
nestful noun (pl. nestfuls).
nester noun,
nestful noun (pl. nestfuls).
– origin OE nest, of Gmc origin.
'nest' also found in these Oxford entries:
anthill
- bee bread
- bird's-nest
- bird's-nest orchid
- bird's nest soup
- carpenter ant
- Chinese box
- crappie
- crow's nest
- cuckold
- cuckoo
- cuckoo bee
- cuckoo wasp
- dovecote
- drey
- eyas
- eyrie
- feather
- halcyon
- harness
- honey ant
- hornet
- leafcutter bee
- love nest
- mare's nest
- mining bee
- myrmecophile
- nest box
- nest egg
- nestle
- nestling
- niche
- nide
- nidification
- nidus
- oropendola
- ovenbird
- penduline tit
- peregrine
- pigeonhole
- sand martin
- sit
- sunfish
- tailorbird
- wasp
- woodrat
