The definition of a nest is a structure where some creatures lay their eggs and keep their young safe and warm, or a place in which to live or rest.
(noun)An example of a nest is where baby birds live.
Nest is defined as to live in a safe place like where a mother bird keeps her young.
(verb)An example of nest is for a turtle to make a living space for her growing young.
See nest in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun
Origin: ME < OE, akin to Ger nest < IE *nizdos (< base *ni-, down + *sed-, to sit) > L nidus, Welsh nyth
intransitive verb
transitive verb
Related Forms:
See nest in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun
Origin:
Origin: Middle English
Origin: , 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.Learn more about nest