bird's nest
3
1.0
- noun
- /bɜrdz nɛst/
:
nido de ave
- Ruth was on her knees listening to the boy as he pointed at what looked like a bird's nest under the decaying front steps of the church.
- eggs in a bird's nest
- find a bird's nest
- bird's nest in the tree
Examples
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You know what happens when a cuckoo hatches inside another bird's nest?
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It looks like a bird's nest.
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A bird's nest right outside my writing room window.
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The bird's nest is almost gone.
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The boys peek at a bird's nest in our backyard.
Blog text (1) -
Well, here's a real bird's nest.
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A bird's nest built in the spring still clung to the overhang.
Fiction book (1990) -
He saw a bird's nest among them and craned his head to see if there were any eggs.
Fiction book (1999) -
Skeletons of branches revealed the previous summer's birds' nests, now abandoned.
Fiction book (1993) -
On our hike, we discovered a bird's nest tucked safely among the branches of a tree.
Synonyms
219
1.0
A place birds or animals make to lay eggs and raise their young
1
1.0
A place where a bird lays eggs and takes care of its baby birds
1
9.9
A large nest built high by birds that hunt, like eagles
A nest that birds build to hold eggs and raise their young
A place where birds or animals build a nest and lay eggs
A high nest where birds of prey raise their young
A high nest on a cliff used by eagles or hawks
A nest high above the ground where a large hunting bird lives
How Spacious
Surface Forms
Morphology
bird's + nest
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'bird' (the animal) + 'nest' (a structure for eggs/young); the genitive 's simply marks possession/association. This is a common noun+possessor construction cross-linguistically and a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase bird's nest paints the simple picture of a bird collecting twigs and soft material to build a nest that holds 'eggs' and keeps its young safe, so it means 'a bird's home'.