nest

noun

ˈnest How to pronounce nest (audio)
Definition of nestnext
1
as in center
a place or environment that favors the development of something suspected that the elite private universities were a nest of antigovernment sentiments

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in hideout
a place where a person goes to hide or to avoid others headed back to her cozy nest in the mountains for a little rest and relaxation

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nest Highlights in the collection included a statement necklace with segments resembling the twigs of a bird’s nest and a horseshoe ring, one of the brand’s bestsellers. — Alex Wynne, Footwear News, 2 July 2026 The Big Bear Valley nest is empty, as Jackie and Shadow’s eaglets have taken off on their own. — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 30 June 2026 Female pythons rarely leave their nests during the roughly 54-day incubation period, Welty said. — Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 2 July 2026 Like many nations, China is facing a generational challenge in the form of 118 million empty-nest senior citizens who might not mind someone’s company—even if that someone periodically receives over-the-air updates. — Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 2 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for nest
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nest
  1. center
  2. hideout
  3. nursery
  4. lair
  5. seminary
  6. nidus
  7. capital
Noun
  • Neto bobbled the ball for an error, though, and Contreras crushed Johnson’s next pitch for his 20th homer, a 446-foot shot to left-center that left his bat at 112 mph and gave Boston a 5-3 lead.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • The incident happened less than a week after another child was found dead inside a car at a Plantation early learning center last Monday.
    — David Goodhue, Miami Herald, 6 July 2026
Definition of center
Noun
  • Security forces carried out a ground operation along the border late Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
    — Abdul Qahar Afghan, Los Angeles Times, 29 June 2026
  • Pakistani security forces carried out a ground operation along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border late Sunday, followed by strikes against militant hideouts and safe havens, killing 29 fighters, Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 June 2026
Definition of hideout
Noun
  • Many gardeners buy praying mantis egg cases (oothecae) from garden nurseries, but this practice is discouraged for two reasons.
    — Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 July 2026
  • Find dark skies and point your telescope toward the Milky Way to view the Lagoon Nebula – a star-forming region in the constellation Sagittarius, like a stellar nursery.
    — John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 3 July 2026
Definition of nursery
Noun
  • Regardless, the small lady leads Paula right to Dennis’ lair.
    — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 1 July 2026
  • But what was more notable was that the sandwich shop had a portal to a wizard's lair, which is where the Russo kids trained to become the only standing wizard family.
    — Christian Holub, Entertainment Weekly, 21 June 2026
Definition of lair
Noun
  • The suspect, Eli Lavon, 21, was an ultra-Orthodox student at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem.
    — Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 3 July 2026
  • The Vatican’s doctrine office went above and beyond the minimum sanctions foreseen by the church’s canon law to respond to the consecrations Wednesday of four new bishops at the society’s Econe, Switzerland, seminary.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 July 2026
Definition of seminary
Noun
  • The indisputably desirable goal of supporting walking, biking and bus-riding around an Uptown nidus was severely wounded.
    — Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 30 Nov. 2020
  • To deliberately collapse and compress a lobe of lung, and with it, its nidus of festering infection.
    — Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 24 Mar. 2017
Definition of nidus
Noun
  • The action required is not cultural goodwill but actual capital, flowing from institutions, from investors, and from women with wealth toward the work of building these tables.
    — Lisa Curtis, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026
  • Downtown Sacramento was awash in Dodger blue as thousands of fans poured into the capital city for a three-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the A’s that concludes Wednesday.
    — Reeti Malhotra, Sacbee.com, 1 July 2026
Definition of capital

Phrases Containing nest

Browse Nearby Words

nesses
nest
nest egg
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nest. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on nest

Nglish: Translation of nest for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nest

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All