1a structure or place made or chosen by a bird for laying eggs and sheltering its young.
a place where an animal or insect breeds or shelters:an ants' nest
a person’s snug or secluded retreat or shelter.
a bowl-shaped object likened to a bird’s nest:arrange in nests of lettuce leaves
a place filled with or frequented by undesirable people or things:a nest of spies
2a set of similar objects of graduated sizes, made so that each smaller one fits into the next in size for storage:a nest of tables
verb
1 [no object] (of a bird or other animal) use or build a nest:the owls often nest in barns (as adjective nesting)do not disturb nesting birds
2 [with object] fit (an object or objects) inside a larger one:the town is nested inside a large crater on the flanks of a volcano
[no object] (of a set of objects) fit inside one another:Russian dolls that nest inside one another
(especially in computing and linguistics) place (an object or element) in a hierarchical arrangement, typically in a subordinate position: (as adjective nested)organisms classified in a series of nested sets
