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

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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 That’s the highest number on record, including the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which sent millions of younger Americans back to the parental nest. — Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 11 July 2026 Barring bedding season in the early summer when large fish guard nests in the shallows, bigger fish will hang out in deeper, cooler water most of the time. — Joe Cermele, Outdoor Life, 9 July 2026 These baits typically contain a slow-acting poison that the earwigs will carry back to their nests, affecting the entire population. — Nafeesah Allen, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 July 2026 Also known as Bombus auricomus, the black-and-gold bumblebee is native to North America and builds below ground nests in the grasslands of Illinois. — Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 9 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
  • Today the house at 176 Butch Cassidy Drive is named Robbers Roost, after the remote hideout in Utah used by Cassidy’s notorious Wild Bunch gang.
    — Catherine Dunwoody, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
  • Then, on December 2, 1993, a day after his 44th birthday, Escobar’s hideout was discovered in Medellín.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 15 July 2026
Definition of hideout
Noun
  • Purple City Genetics, a long-standing cannabis nursery, breeder and seed producer based in Oakland, set up a display of some of its most popular cloned plants, including the Moroccan Peaches and Bolinas strains.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 19 July 2026
  • Key to those efforts is the identification of nurseries such as the one in Piraquara de Fora cove, according to experts who are part of the Brazilian Institute for Nature Conservation's Sharks of Ilha Grande Bay project.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 July 2026
Definition of nursery
Noun
  • Cloaked in green, shaded by coconut, jackfruit, and banana trees, amid mangrove forests like a jungle lair or a scene from Lost.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 July 2026
  • Britt Zunino, partner and principal of Studio DB, knew that Gucci’s vibrant Heron wallpaper would make a dramatic impact in the tiny lair, since her client works in fashion.
    — Alia Akkam, Architectural Digest, 13 July 2026
Definition of lair
Noun
  • Built in 1829 as a seminary, the Colonial-style edifice went on to become a country club, then faculty housing for nearby Bennington College, and later a private home, remaining in the same family’s care for some six decades.
    — Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 13 July 2026
  • Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim, a senior scholar at the Najaf seminary, led the funeral prayers at the Shrine of Imam Ali, the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 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
  • Authorities in the Belgian capital said that a number of charred bodies had been found in an elevator at the site.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 July 2026
  • Collado said the capital regional area has more than 9,000 hotel rooms, along with thousands of short-term rental units.
    — Vera Lucia Pappaterra, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026
Definition of capital

Phrases Containing nest

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nesses
nest
nest egg
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Cite this Entry

“Nest.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nest. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on nest

Nglish: Translation of nest for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nest

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