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

Synonyms of nest egg

• deposit
• fund
• budget

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

The eye-popping gains of Nvidia, Micron, Alphabet and other AI stocks have helped inflate the net worths of millions of Americans by lifting the value of their retirement nest eggs, college savings plans and brokerage accounts. — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026

The internet offers myriad new ways to risk your nest egg, as do all those flashy new casinos. — Stephen J. K. Walters, Baltimore Sun, 12 Aug. 2026

Retirement savers looking to diversify and protect their nest egg from taxes sometimes turn to gold, held inside a Roth IRA (individual retirement account). — USA Today, 24 July 2026

By the Labor Department’s own math, 1% in additional fees can shrink someone’s nest egg at retirement by 28%. — Paul Kiel, ProPublica, 8 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for nest egg

• blackleg
• bootleg
• foreleg
• mpeg
• nutmeg
• prepreg
• beg
• clegg
• keg
• leg
• legg
• meg

Kids Definition

nest egg

noun

: a fund of money set aside as a reserve