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| nest [ nest ] |
noun (plural nests) |
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| Definition: |
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1. bird or animal home: a structure that birds and other animals such as mice build to shelter themselves and their young, using available natural materials such as grass, twigs, and mud
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2. community of animals: the community of animals living in a nest
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3. something shaped like bird's nest: something shaped more or less like a bird's nest, especially something that encloses or contains things
  a meringue nest
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4. cozy place: a cozy, protected, or secluded place
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5. bad place: a place where something bad such as crime or treason flourishes
a nest of vice
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6. criminals' secret place: a hideaway for criminals, or a group of criminals hiding away there
a nest of thieves
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7. set of things: a set of things such as tables or wooden eggs that fit one inside the other
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8. gun emplacement: a protected or camouflaged place from which a gun or other weapon is fired
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verb (past and past participle nest·ed, present participle nest·ing, 3rd person present singular nests) |
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| Definition: |
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1. intransitive verb build nest: to make or live in a nest, especially in preparation for giving birth to young
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2. intransitive verb make place more homelike: to make a place more comfortable and homelike
(
informal
)
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3. transitive verb put things together: to put one thing inside another, or group things together into a single unit, e.g. kitchen utensils of graduated size
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| [ Old English< Indo-European "place where a bird sits down"] |
