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nest (n st)n.1. a. A container or shelter made by a bird out of twigs, grass, or other material to hold its eggs and young. b. A similar structure in which fish, insects, or other animals deposit eggs or keep their young. c. A place in which young are reared; a lair. d. A number of insects, birds, or other animals occupying such a place: a nest of hornets. 2. A place affording snug refuge or lodging; a home. 3. a. A place or environment that fosters rapid growth or development, especially of something undesirable; a hotbed: a nest of criminal activity. b. Those who occupy or frequent such a place or environment. 4. a. A set of objects of graduated size that can be stacked together, each fitting within the one immediately larger: a nest of tables. b. A cluster of similar things. 5. Computer Science A set of data contained sequentially within another. 6. A group of weapons in a prepared position: a machine-gun nest. v. nest·ed, nest·ing, nests v.intr.1. To build or occupy a nest. 2. To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge. 3. To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs. 4. To fit together in a stack. v.tr.1. To place in or as if in a nest. 2. To put snugly together or inside one another: to nest boxes.
[Middle English, 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 n dus. 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. |
nesting [ˈnɛstɪŋ]n (Psychology) the tendency to arrange one's immediate surroundings, such as a work station, to create a place where one feels secure, comfortable, or in control
Translations nesting: nesting instinct n (lit, fig) → Nistinstinkt m → or -trieb m
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