Definition of bird's nest
1
: the nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches young
2 a
: edible bird's nest;
also
: a substitute used in the preparation of soup
b
: any of several dishes commonly containing nuts or fruit (such as an apple dumpling or a cobbler)
3
: any of several plants having a real or fancied resemblance to a bird's nest;
especially
: wild carrot
4
: crow's nest 1a
5 a
: a snarl of fishing line at the reel : backlash
b
: a mass of tangled hair
- If the younger girl's hair was a bird's nest of tangles, her choice of clothing torn blue jeans and an oversized sweater spotted with burrs and prickly seeds, it was simply because she was endlessly active.
- —Charles de Lint, Memory and Dream, 1994
- Irie … turned up for her appointment three-thirty on the dot, … a headscarf disguising the bird's nest of her hair, her right hand carefully placed upon her stomach.
- —Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000
