I. ˈnest noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Middle Dutch & Old High German nest, Latin nidus, Old Irish net nest, Sanskrit nīḍa resting place, nest; all from a prehistoric Indo-European compound whose first constituent is represented by Sanskrit ni down and whose second constituent is akin to the root of English sit — more at nether
1.
a. : the bed, receptacle, or location prepared by a bird for holding its eggs and for hatching and rearing its young
b. : the settled and often concealed place in which the eggs of animals (as insects, fishes, or turtles) are laid and hatched and the young are reared
2.
a. : a place of rest, retreat, or lodging : home , shelter
a cozy little blanketed nest which she had arranged and furnished herself — Zane Grey
b. : the place of resort of persons of like character or purpose especially regarded as bad or hostile : den , hangout
the nest of Saracen marauders … in the Alpine passes — R.W.Southern
3.
a. : the family, group, or swarm of animals occupying a nest
b. : the persons frequenting a place of resort
4.
a. : a group of similar things : aggregation
it had become a nest of empty paint jars — John Updike
rammed into a nest of sampans — Chesley Wilson
right up into a nest of giant mountains — Helen MacInnes
b. : a center or home of practices or habits of thought of a particular kind
felt most strongly that, in practice, the Court of Rome was a nest of abuses — G.G.Coulton
5. : a group of objects made to fit close together or graduated in size to fit one within another
a nest of picnic plates
— compare nest of tables
6. : a receptacle or locating device shaped to hold something
a nest to receive the Continental-type spare tire mounting — Jeff Taylor
there is a sudden rush of air into the bilges under the tube nest — E.L.Beach
7. : a small isolated mass of ore or mineral within another formation
8.
a. : a compact group of devices (as pulleys, gears, springs) working together
b. : a group of things (as boilers or tubes in a water-tube boiler)
c. : a group of holes or pins for locating work in a jig or die
9. : an isolated collection or clump of cells in tissue of a different structure
a nest of sarcomatous cells in the liver
10. : an emplaced group of weapons
a nest of machine guns
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English nesten, from nest, n.
intransitive verb
1. : to build or occupy a nest : settle down in or as if in a nest
birds nest in many places
2. : to fit compactly together or within one another
to solve the schools' storage problem, the chairs stack easily, the tables nest — Time
transitive verb
1. : to fit or settle into a bed or suitable receptacle : adjust into a protective place
nest their jelly bottles in green tissue paper — John Haverstick
the old method of nesting a fragile product in a great mass of loose cushioning material — Modern Packaging
2. : to pack or fit compactly together (as in a stack or a close or graduated series)
cooking pans and racks nested under an aluminum dome — New Yorker
3. : to assemble (as boiler tubes or piles) in a group
4. : to arrange (tobacco) so that the better bundles are exposed to view in a warehouse