nest

Plural: nests

Noun

a structure in which animals lay eggs or give birth to their young
a kind of gun emplacement
- "a machine-gun nest"
- "a nest of snipers"
a cosy or secluded retreat
a gang of people (criminals or spies or terrorists) assembled in one locality
- "a nest of thieves"
furniture pieces made to fit close together
A structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young.
A place used by a monotreme, fish, amphibian or insect, for depositing eggs and hatching young.
A snug, comfortable, or cosy residence or job situation.
A retreat, or place of habitual resort.
A hideout for bad people to frequent or haunt; a den.
A home that a child or young adult shares with a parent or guardian.
A fixed number of cards in some bidding games awarded to the highest bidder allowing him to exchange any or all with cards in his hand.
A fortified position for a weapon.
A structure consisting of nested structures, such as nested loops or nested subroutine calls.
A circular bed of pasta, rice, etc. to be topped or filled with other foods.
An aggregated mass of any ore or mineral, in an isolated state, within a rock.
A collection of boxes, cases, or the like, of graduated size, each put within the one next larger.
A compact group of pulleys, gears, springs, etc., working together or collectively.
The pubic hair near a vulva or a vulva itself.

Verb

Verb Forms: nested, nesting, nests

To build or occupy a nest; to fit snugly together.
inhabit a nest, usually after building
- "birds are nesting outside my window every Spring"
fit together or fit inside
- "nested bowls"
move or arrange oneself in a comfortable and cozy position
gather nests
To build or settle into a nest.
To settle into a home.
To successively neatly fit inside another.
To place in, or as if in, a nest.
To place one thing neatly inside another, and both inside yet another (and so on).
To hunt for birds' nests or their contents (usually "go nesting").

Examples

a machine gun nest
a nest of thieves
I am aspiring to leave the nest.
I bought a set of nesting mixing bowls for my mother.
I was forced to change trumps when I found the ace, jack, and nine of diamonds in the nest.
She managed to nest her ’Q’ perfectly next to a ’U’ for maximum points.
That nightclub is a nest of strange people!
There would be much more room in the attic if you had nested all the empty boxes.
We loved the new house and were nesting there in two days!

Origin / Etymology

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).

Synonyms

cuddle, draw close, nestle, nuzzle, snuggle, beav, beaver

Scrabble Score: 4

nest: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
nest: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
nest: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 5

nest: valid Words With Friends Word