Nest
[nest] or [nɛst]
Definition
(noun.) a kind of gun emplacement; 'a machine-gun nest'; 'a nest of snipers'.
(noun.) furniture pieces made to fit close together.
(noun.) a gang of people (criminals or spies or terrorists) assembled in one locality; 'a nest of thieves'.
(noun.) a cosy or secluded retreat.
(noun.) a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young.
(verb.) gather nests.
(verb.) fit together or fit inside; 'nested bowls'.
(verb.) inhabit a nest, usually after building; 'birds are nesting outside my window every Spring'.
Typed by Ada--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The bed or receptacle prepared by a fowl for holding her eggs and for hatching and rearing her young.
(n.) Hence: the place in which the eggs of other animals, as insects, turtles, etc., are laid and hatched; a snug place in which young animals are reared.
(n.) A snug, comfortable, or cozy residence or situation; a retreat, or place of habitual resort; hence, those who occupy a nest, frequent a haunt, or are associated in the same pursuit; as, a nest of traitors; a nest of bugs.
(n.) An aggregated mass of any ore or mineral, in an isolated state, within a rock.
(n.) A collection of boxes, cases, or the like, of graduated size, each put within the one next larger.
(n.) A compact group of pulleys, gears, springs, etc., working together or collectively.
(v. i.) To build and occupy a nest.
(v. t.) To put into a nest; to form a nest for.
Typist: Murray
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Aerie.
Editor: Nita
Definition
n. the bed formed by a bird for hatching her young: the place in which the eggs of any animal are laid and hatched: a comfortable residence: a number of persons haunting one place for a bad purpose: the place itself: a number of baskets or boxes each fitting inside the next larger.—v.t. to form a nest for.—v.i. to build and occupy a nest.—n. Nest′-egg an egg left in the nest to keep the hen from forsaking it: something laid up as the beginning of an accumulation.—Feather one's nest to provide for one's self esp. from other people's property of which one has had charge.
Checked by Herman
Unserious Contents or Definition
To see an empty bird's nest, denotes gloom and a dull outlook for business. With eggs in the nest, good results will follow all engagements. If young ones are in the nest, it denotes successful journeys and satisfactory dealings. If they are lonely and deserted, sorrow, and folly of yours will cause you anxiety.
To dream of seeing birds' nests, denotes that you will be interested in an enterprise which will be prosperous. For a young woman, this dream foretells change of abode. To see an empty nest, indicates sorrow through the absence of a friend. Hens' nests, foretells that you will be interested in domesticities, and children will be cheerful and obedient. To dream of a nest filled with broken or bad eggs, portends disappointments and failure. See Birds' Nest.
Typist: Shelby
Examples
- So, I presented Joe to Herbert, who held out his hand; but Joe backed from it, and held on by the bird's-nest. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- In this family several hen birds unite and lay first a few eggs in one nest and then in another; and these are hatched by the males. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Nest-ce pas que c'est beau? Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Meg is the turtledove, and Amy is like the lark she writes about, trying to get up among the clouds, but always dropping down into its nest again. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- And off she bustled, leaving me to settle myself in my new nest. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- A solitary sea-gull winged its flight over our heads, to seek its nest in a cleft of the precipice. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Ruined the nest, alas! Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Calls a house a rookery when there's not a rook near it, and takes the birds on trust, because he sees the nests! Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- I dare say at some time or other Sentiment and Comedy will bring THEIR husbands home and have THEIR nests upstairs too. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- They are incapable of making their own nests, or of feeding their own larvae. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The ragged nests, so long deserted by the rooks, were gone; and the trees were lopped and topped out of their remembered shapes. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Audubon has given several remarkable cases of differences in the nests of the same species in the northern and southern United States. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Your three birds are all in their nests, said Holmes, looking up. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Amy and Louisa, return to your nests like a pair of doves, as you are. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- But there was no reply to Wildeve's shout, save a mournful whining from the herons which were nesting lower down the vale. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- She must be nesting now. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
Edited by Ben