🐦 A bird's home 🛏️ A private place 🕵️ A secret group 🐢 To lay eggs 🛋️ To get comfortable 🥄 To fit inside 🪑 Stacked furniture

to nest

15 1.6

To make a home where birds or animals lay eggs and raise their young

verb
/nɛst/

: anidar

I see the male goose out there, so that means a female is nesting somewhere.
birds nest
bees nest
turtles nest

Examples

The robins always nest in the same tree every spring.
My crow is looking for a place to nest.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
And I had no idea that they nest in trees like birds.
They nest in the earth.

Fright Night (2011)
Why are the birds nesting here?

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1994)
She came here to nest.

Boa vs. Python (2004)
When the Robins nest again and the flowers are in bloom.
They nest in the rafters sometimes.

White Bird (2023)
They are leaving the bubbling lake to find a place to nest.

Enchanted Kingdom (2014)
And every May, the survivors would be back, paddling the shallows, nesting in the reeds.

Fiction book (1997)

Antonyms

to abandon

773 3.1

Leave someone or something behind permanently and without care

to vacate

52 4.5

Leave a place or job so it is free for someone else

Idioms

to feather one's nest

Informal

1 8.3

Use a job or position to get money for yourself in a dishonest way

to open a hornets' nest

Informal

7.7

To cause a lot of trouble and anger among people

Compounds

nest egg

21 3.4

Money saved for the future, for example for retirement or emergencies

love nest

12 4.2

A small private place where two people in love spend romantic time together

hornet's nest

Informal

8 7.2

A situation that causes much trouble and angry reactions

crow's nest

4 6.1

A small platform near the top of a ship's mast where a lookout stands

bird's nest

3 1.0

A small home a bird builds to lay eggs and raise its young

rat's nest

Informal

2 6.8

A very messy place with many things mixed together

hornets' nest

Informal

1 6.7

A situation that causes trouble, danger, or strong disagreement

hornet's nest

1 4.5

A nest made of paper-like material by wasps where they live

wasp's nest

1 3.7

A home made from chewed wood that wasps build to hold many insects

bird nest

1 1.0

A place where a bird lays eggs and takes care of its baby birds

cuckoo's nest

Slur

1 9.9

An insulting name for a mental hospital

mare's nest

Archaic

1 9.9

A confusing, chaotic situation with many mixed-up parts

hornets' nest

1 4.1

A home built by hornets or wasps where they raise their young

bird's nest fern

Specialized

8.8

A tropical fern with long curved leaves that form a round nest in tree forks

bird's-nest fungus

Specialized

9.9

A small cup-shaped fungus that looks like a tiny nest of eggs

climbing bird's nest fern

Australian

9.9

A fern that climbs trees and has broad leaves that look like a bird's nest

magpie's nest

Informal

8.5

A messy collection of many different small things

mouse nest

3.4

A small home mice build to keep and raise their babies

mouse's nest

5.6

A place a mouse makes to live and raise its babies

hurrah's nest

Informal

9.9

A noisy joyful party with people cheering and running around

nest egg

Archaic

7.5

A fake egg placed in a chicken coop to make hens lay in one spot

sleeper nest

NSFW

9.9

A hidden group of people who stay inactive until they get orders to do illegal or violent acts

wasps' nest

2.7

A structure made by wasps or hornets where they live and raise young

How Settled

to establish

772 4.1

to settle

463 2.5

to nest

15 1.6

to roost

16 4.2

Surface Forms

nest infinitive

nested past

nested past participle

nesting present participle

nests third person singular

Etymology

The verb nest comes from the noun nest (old English næst) meaning 'place to lay eggs', so to 'nest' is to build or use that place to lay eggs or raise young.