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   nest

   /nɛst/

   noun

   • 1. a structure or place made or chosen by a bird for laying eggs and sheltering its young: "two sparrows frantically building a nest" Similar roosteyrienest boxnesting boxbirdhouse
   • ▪ a place where an insect or other animal breeds or shelters: "an ants' nest" Similar lairdendreylodgeburrowsetform
   • ▪ something in the form of a bowl or layer, used to hold, protect, or support something: "potato nests filled with okra"
   • ▪ a person's snug or secluded retreat: "I'm off to my cosy nest" Similar hideawayhiding placehideoutretreatshelterrefugesnuggerynookdenhauntinformal:hidey-hole
   • 2. a place filled with undesirable people, activities, or things: "a nest of spies" Similar hotbeddenbreeding groundcradleseedbedforcing house
   • 3. a set of similar objects of graduated sizes, made so that each smaller one fits into the next in size for storage: "a nest of tables" Similar clustersetgroupassemblage

   verb

   • 1. (of a bird or other animal) use or build a nest: "the owls often nest in barns"
   • 2. fit (an object or objects) inside a larger one: "the town is nested inside a large crater on the flanks of a volcano"
   • ▪ (of a set of objects) fit inside one another: "Russian dolls that nest inside one another"
   • ▪ (especially in computing and linguistics) place (an object or element) in a lower position in a hierarchy.

   Word Origin Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Latin nidus, from the Indo-European bases of nether (meaning ‘down’) and sit.

   Derivatives

   • 1. nestful noun
   • 2. nestlike adjective

   Scrabble Points: 4

   • N

     1

   • E

     1

   • S

     1

   • T

     1

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