Nest Meaning
/nɛst/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young.
nounA place used by a monotreme, fish, amphibian or insect, for depositing eggs and hatching young.
Sentence Examples
The hen was sitting on the eggs in the nest.
Put it back in the nest.
Sparrows building a nest of twigs and dry grass
CEFR Practice Quiz
Each spring, the birds always ____ in the same old oak tree to raise their young.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We found a tiny bird's ____ hidden among the branches of the apple tree.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English nest, nist, nyst, from Old English nest, from Proto-West Germanic *nest, from Proto-Germanic *nestą, from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (“nest”), literally "where [the bird] sits down", a compound of *ni (“down”) (whence also English nether) + the zero-grade of the root *sed- (“to sit”) (whence also English sit).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Capt. Kirby and I concluding it might be of great Service to the Eaſt-India Company to deſtroy such a Neſt of Rogues, were ready to ſail for that Purpoſe […]"
— 1724, Charles Johnson [pseudonym], “Of Capt. Edward England, and His Crew. [A Letter from Captain Makra, dated at Bombay, Nov. 16, 1720.]”, in A General History of the Pyrates, […], 2nd edition, London: Printed for, and sold by T. Warner, […], →OCLC, page 119:
"Miss Carpenter told me that a short time previously some Bow Street constables had been sent down to this place to ferret out a crime which had been committed there, and that they reported there was not in all London such a nest of wickedness as they had explored."
— 1895, Frances Power Cobbe, chapter 10, in Life of Frances Power Cobbe, volume 1, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 254:
"Subroutine 4 cannot jump out of the subroutine nest in one step. Each return address must be popped from the stack in the order in which it was pushed onto the stack."
— 1981, Donnamaie E. White, Bit-Slice Design: Controllers and ALU's, Garland STPM Press, →ISBN, page 49:
"After the first heavy frost, when acorns were falling, I took a friend into partnership and went nesting."
— 1895, Alfred Emanuel Smith, Francis Walton, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Each spring, the birds always ____ in the same old oak tree to raise their young.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We found a tiny bird's ____ hidden among the branches of the apple tree.