a pocketlike, usually more or less circular structure of twigs, grass, mud, etc., formed by a bird, often high in a tree, as a place in which to lay and incubate its eggs and rear its young; any protected place used by a bird for these purposes.
2.
a place used by insects, fishes, turtles, rabbits, etc., for depositing their eggs or young.
3.
a number of birds, insects, animals, etc., inhabiting one such place.
4.
a snug retreat or refuge; resting place; home.
5.
an assemblage of things lying or set close together, as a series of boxes or trays, that fit within each other: a nest of tables.
6.
a place where something bad is fostered or flourishes: a nest of vice; a robber's nest.
7.
the occupants or frequenters of such a place.
–verb (used with object)
8.
to settle or place (something) in or as if in a nest: to nest dishes in straw.
9.
to fit or place one within another: to nest boxes for more compact storage.
–verb (used without object)
10.
to build or have a nest: The swallows nested under the eaves.
11.
to settle in or as if in a nest.
12.
to fit together or within another or one another: bowls that nest easily for storage.
13.
to search for or collect nests: to go nesting.
14.
Computers. to place a routine inside another routine that is at a higher hierarchical level.
Origin: bef. 900; ME, OE (c. D, G nest; akin to L nīdus nest, OIr net, Welsh nyth, Skt nīḍa lair) ≪ IE *nizdo- bird's nest, equiv. to *ni down (see nether) + *zd-, var. of *sd-, ablaut var. of *sed-, v. base meaning “sit” (see sit) + *-o- theme vowel
A container or shelter made by a bird out of twigs, grass, or other material to hold its eggs and young.
A similar structure in which fish, insects, or other animals deposit eggs or keep their young.
A place in which young are reared; a lair.
A number of insects, birds, or other animals occupying such a place: a nest of hornets.
A place or environment that fosters rapid growth or development, especially of something undesirable; a hotbed: a nest of criminal activity.
Those who occupy or frequent such a place or environment.
A set of objects of graduated size that can be stacked together, each fitting within the one immediately larger: a nest of tables.
A cluster of similar things.
A place affording snug refuge or lodging; a home.
A place or environment that fosters rapid growth or development, especially of something undesirable; a hotbed: a nest of criminal activity.
Those who occupy or frequent such a place or environment.
A set of objects of graduated size that can be stacked together, each fitting within the one immediately larger: a nest of tables.
A cluster of similar things.
A set of objects of graduated size that can be stacked together, each fitting within the one immediately larger: a nest of tables.
A cluster of similar things.
Computer Science A set of data contained sequentially within another.
A group of weapons in a prepared position: a machine-gun nest.
v.
nest·ed, nest·ing, nests
v.
intr.
To build or occupy a nest.
To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.
To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs.
To fit together in a stack.
v.
tr.
To place in or as if in a nest.
To put snugly together or inside one another: to nest boxes.
[Middle English, from Old English; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: Nest is an ancient word, *nizdos in Indo-European, composed of the prefix *ni- "down," plus a form of the verbal root *sed-, "to sit," followed by a suffix used to form nouns, *-os. Thus a *ni-zd-os literally means "(place where the bird) sits down." In Germanic, an old zd became st. Thus *nizdos became *nistaz, which further changed in Old English to nest. Latin also inherited the word *nizdos from Indo-European, where it eventually changed to nīdus. This word has been borrowed into English as a scientific term. The prefix *ni- survives elsewhere in English, too, in the words beneath and nether.
Main Entry: nest Pronunciation: 'nest Function: noun : an isolated collection or clump of cells in tissue of a different structure nest ofsarcomatous cells in the liver>
[nest] 
