- [countable]
a hollow place or structure that a bird makes or chooses for laying its eggs in and sheltering its young 鸟巢；鸟窝 
sparrows building a nest of twigs and dry grass 麻雀用树枝和干草筑巢
Extra ExamplesTopics Birdsc1A rat took the egg while the mother was away from the nest. 趁雌鸟不在巢里，一只老鼠把蛋偷走了。 The female spends all her time on the nest. 雌鸟所有时间都在孵蛋。 The litters of several different females often occupy the same nest. 多只雌鸟的幼鸟常会待在同一个巢里。 The male and female take turns to sit on the nest. 雄鸟和雌鸟轮流坐窝。 The male uses song to attract a female to his nest site. 雄鸟用歌声吸引雌鸟到它的鸟巢附近。 You should avoid disturbing the nest until after the eggs are hatched. 卵孵出之前，你不应该惊扰鸟巢。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- ant’s
- bird’s
- wasp’s
- …
- build
- construct
- make
- …
- site
- hole
- box
- …
- away from a/the nest
- in a/the nest
- inside a/the nest
- …
- [countable]
a place where insects or other small creatures live and produce their young 巢穴；窝 a wasps’ nest 黄蜂窝 a nest of mice 一窝老鼠 The snake will attack if disturbed inside its nest. 如果蛇在巢穴内被惊扰，它就会反击。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- ant’s
- bird’s
- wasp’s
- …
- build
- construct
- make
- …
- site
- hole
- box
- …
- away from a/the nest
- in a/the nest
- inside a/the nest
- …
- [singular]
a secret place which is full of bad people and their activities 藏匿处；秘密窝点 a nest of thieves 贼窝
- [singular]
the home, thought of as the safe place where parents bring up their children 家；安乐窝 to leave the nest (= leave your parents’ home) 离开父母过独立生活
- [countable, usually singular]
a group or set of similar things that are made to fit inside each other （套叠在一起的）一套物件 a nest of tables 一套桌子
Word OriginOld English, of Germanic origin; related to Latin nidus, from the Indo-European bases of nether (meaning ‘down’) and sit.
Idioms
feather your (own) nest
to make yourself richer, especially at somebody else's expense, by spending money on yourself that should be spent on somebody/something else 中饱私囊
fly the nest
(of a young bird 幼鸟 to become able to fly and leave its nest 羽翼已丰可离巢 - (informal)
(of somebody’s child 子女 to leave home and live somewhere else 另立门户 Her children have flown the nest. 她的孩子们已经离家独立。
a hornets’ nest
a mare’s nest
a discovery that seems interesting but is found to have no value （看似有趣但）毫无价值的发现 a very complicated situation 复杂的形势；变幻莫测的局势 This area of the law is a veritable mare’s nest. 这一法律领域复杂难料。