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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

3 entries under this word

Nest

Nĕst, n.

noun

n. [A.-S. nest, nist, D. & Ger. nest, Sw. nïste, allied to Lat. nidus, for nidus, Skr. nîda, Russ. gniesdō, Lith. lizdas, for nizdas, W. nyth, Arm. neiz, Ir. nead, Gr. νεοσσιά, νεοττιά.

  1. The bed or retreat prepared by a bird for hatching and rearing her young.
  2. Hence, the place in which the eggs of other animals, as of insects, turtles, and the like, are laid and hatched; a snug place in which young animals are reared.

Bentley.

  1. A snug, comfortable, or cozy residence or situation; a close place in which any thing is brooded or produced; also, a receptacle of numbers, or the collection itself;—usually in an ill sense; as, a nest of rogues.
  2. A collection of boxes, cases, or the like, of graduated size, each put within the one next larger.
  3. (Geol.) An aggregated mass of any ore or mineral, in an isolated state, within a rock. Dana.
An engraving shows three types of bird nests: a thistle-bird nest in a tree, a baya nest hanging from a branch, and a red-bird nest attached to a branch.
a, nest of the thistle-bird; b, nest of baya, of India; c, nest of red bird (Sylvia)
The illustration depicts nests of three birds: a thistle-bird, a baya of India, and a red bird.

Nĕst, v. i.

verbintransitive

To build and occupy a nest. The king of birds nested with its leaves. Howell.

Nèst, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. To put into a nest; to form a nest for. They like a nested pair reposed. Wordsworth.