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

nest

69 8.0

A place where criminals hide and plan crimes

noun
/nɛst/

Literature

: nido

Alex, I don't know if you can hear me, but tonight, you uncovered a nest of vipers inside the Detroit Police Department.

But then it's a whole like rat's nest of political stuff as well.

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Examples

More nests of conspirators and saboteurs have been uncovered... and further arrests are expected shortly.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
The whole village became a nest of bed-and-breakfasts for weeks on end.

Academic text (2015)
We got a rat in the nest.

Tears of the Sun (2003)
Tonight marked the first attack on one of their nests in the garment district.

Fiction book (1992)
India's consulates in Afghanistan are regarded as nests of spies conducting subversive work against Islamabad.

Academic text (2003)
The police discovered a hidden nest of thieves operating in the old warehouse.
After months of investigation, authorities finally located the nest where the illegal arms were stored.
The agents infiltrated the criminal nest to gather evidence against the organization.

Synonyms

hiding place

vsnest

57 2.5

A secret place where nobody can find a person or thing

is specific to criminal use and includes places for weapons or operations

hideout

vsnest

55 4.0

A secret place where someone stays to avoid being found

is a base where criminals or weapons are concealed and operate from

stash house

vsnest

NSFW

10 8.9

A house where people hide drugs or weapons to avoid being caught

is broader and refers to any secret base for criminals not only storage

den

vsnest

NSFW

6 6.0

A secret place used as a hideout, often by criminals

is a small secret place mainly for criminals to hide or act from

hidey-hole

vsnest

Informal

1 7.5

A small secret place to keep things safe or be alone

is larger and used for criminal shelter or storing illegal items

covert

vsnest

1 7.9

A thick area of bushes where animals hide

is focused on criminal bases and secret operations rather than natural cover

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 Hidden

nest

Literature

69 8.0

safe house

106 4.8

hideout

55 4.0

hangout

Informal

45 3.6

Surface Forms

nest singular

nests plural

Etymology

A nest of criminals uses the same image: since a nest holds many birds, a 'nest' of spies or thieves is a place where they gather and hide, so it means a secret centre for bad activity.