{
    "term": "nest",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "image": "data/images/bi/birds.png",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a hollow place or structure that a bird makes or chooses for laying its eggs in and sheltering its young",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "sparrows building a nest of twigs and dry grass"
                },
                {
                    "text": "A rat took the egg while the mother was away from the nest."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The female spends all her time on the nest."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The litters of several different females often occupy the same nest."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The male and female take turns to sit on the nest."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The male uses song to attract a female to his nest site."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You should avoid disturbing the nest until after the eggs are hatched."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Birds"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["ant’s", "bird’s", "wasp’s"],
                "verb + nest": ["build", "construct", "make"],
                "nest + noun": ["site", "hole", "box"],
                "preposition": [
                    "away from a/​the nest",
                    "in a/​the nest",
                    "inside a/​the nest"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a place where insects or other small creatures live and produce their young",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a wasps’ nest"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a nest of mice"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The snake will attack if disturbed inside its nest."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Insects, worms, etc."],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["ant’s", "bird’s", "wasp’s"],
                "verb + nest": ["build", "construct", "make"],
                "nest + noun": ["site", "hole", "box"],
                "preposition": [
                    "away from a/​the nest",
                    "in a/​the nest",
                    "inside a/​the nest"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a secret place which is full of bad people and their activities",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a nest of thieves"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "the home, thought of as the safe place where parents bring up their children",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to **leave the nest** *(= leave your parents’ home)*"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "a group or set of similar things that are made to fit inside each other",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a nest of tables"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to make yourself richer, especially at somebody else's expense, by spending money on yourself that should be spent on somebody/something else",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "to become able to fly and leave its nest",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "to leave home and live somewhere else",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Her children have flown the nest."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "a difficult situation in which a lot of people get very angry",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "His letter to the papers **stirred up a** real **hornets' nest**."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a discovery that seems interesting but is found to have no value",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a very complicated situation",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "This area of the law is a veritable mare’s nest."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/nest/",
                "audio": "ne/nest/nest__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/nest/",
                "audio": "ne/nest/nest__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English, of Germanic origin; related to Latin nidus, from the Indo-European bases of nether (meaning ‘down’) and sit."
}