nest egg

noun

1
: a natural or artificial egg left in a nest especially to induce a hen to continue to lay there
2
: a fund of money accumulated as a reserve

Examples of nest egg in a Sentence

They built up a nest egg for their son's college education. paid for the computer out of his nest egg
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Saving early and consistently continues to be helpful for building a retirement nest egg. Susan Tompor, Freep.com, 4 Sep. 2025 The study explains that a $1 million nest egg might last 95 years in Cuenca, Ecuador, but just 41 years in Panama City, Panama. Alex Ledsom, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025 Later in episode 10, Peggy wants to invest her portion of her nest egg in a wild pig-hunting business in order to clear Redcorn’s farm of invasive feral hogs. Jake Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Aug. 2025 In Hawaii and New York, residents are projected to have higher than average retirement incomes, but higher than average expenses or longer lifespans due to things like diets and access to health care may mean those nest eggs won’t last long enough. Roxana Popescu, Mercury News, 29 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for nest egg

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of nest egg was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nest egg.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nest%20egg. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

nest egg

noun
: a fund of money set aside as a reserve
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!