nest
pronunciation
How to pronounce nest in British English:
UK [nest]
How to pronounce nest in American English:
US [nest]
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- Noun:
- a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
- a kind of gun emplacement
- a cosy or secluded retreat
- a gang of people (criminals or spies or terrorists) assembled in one locality
- furniture pieces made to fit close together
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- Verb:
- inhabit a nest, usually after building
- fit together or fit inside
- move or arrange oneself in a comfortable and cozy position
- gather nests
Word Origin
- nest
- nest: [OE] Etymologically, a nest is a place for ‘sitting down’. It is a very ancient word, and traces its history all the way back to Indo- European *nizdo-, a compound formed from *ni ‘down’ (source of English beneath and nether) and *sed- (ancestor of English sit). From it came English nest (a word shared by German and Dutch), and also Latin nīdus ‘nest’, source of Old French niche ‘nest’ – whence English niche [17]. Nestle [OE] was derived from nest.=> beneath, nestle, nether, sit
- nest (n.)
- Old English nest "bird's nest, snug retreat," also "young bird, brood," from Proto-Germanic *nistaz (cognates: Middle Low German, Middle Dutch nest, German Nest), from PIE *nizdo- (cognates: Sanskrit nidah "resting place, nest," Latin nidus "nest," Old Church Slavonic gnezdo, Old Irish net, Welsh nyth, Breton nez "nest"), probably from *ni "down" + *sed- (1) "to sit" (see sedentary). Used since Middle English in reference to various accumulations of things (such as a nest of drawers, early 18c.). Nest egg "retirement savings" is from 1700, originally "a real or artificial egg left in a nest to induce the hen to go on laying there" (c. 1600).
- nest (v.)
- Old English nistan "to build nests," from Proto-Germanic *nistijanan, from the source of nest (n.). The modern verb is perhaps a new formation in Middle English from the noun. Related: Nested; nesting.
Example
- 1. And will attack if a nest is threatened .
- 2. He also hopes to identify how l. humile learns to recognize nest mates .
- 3. Their powerful mandibles are used to crush food that workers bring back to the nest .
- 4. When finding food , they lay down pheromones to mark the route to and from their nest .
- 5. Those that nest around the gulf 's shores are right now raising their chicks on oil-free beaches .