nest
//nɛst//
Forms
- Plural
- nests
- present (v1)
- nest
- past (v2)
- nested
- past participle (v3)
- nested
- present participle
- nesting
- 3rd person singular
- nests
Definitions
1.A structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young.
2.A place used by a monotreme, fish, amphibian or insect, for depositing eggs and hatching young.
3.A snug, comfortable, or cosy residence or job situation.
4.A retreat, or place of habitual resort.
1.To settle into a home.
- We loved the new house and were nesting there in two days!
2.To successively neatly fit inside another.
- I bought a set of nesting mixing bowls for my mother.
3.To build or settle into a nest.
4.To place in, or as if in, a nest.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4772
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English nest, nist, nyst
From Old English nest
From Proto-West Germanic *nest
From Proto-Germanic *nestą