nest

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun A structure or shelter made or used by a bird to hold its eggs during incubation and to house its young until fledged.
• noun A structure or shelter in which other animals, such as reptiles, fish, or insects, deposit their eggs or tend their young.
• noun A structure or complex built by ants, termites, or other social animals to house a colony.
• noun A number of insects, birds, or other animals occupying a nest.
• noun A place affording snug refuge or lodging; a home.
• noun A place or environment that fosters rapid growth or development, especially of something undesirable; a hotbed.
• noun Those who occupy or frequent such a place or environment.
• noun A set of objects of graduated size that can be stacked together, each fitting within the one immediately larger.
• noun A cluster of similar things.
• noun A group of weapons in a prepared position.
• intransitive verb To build or occupy a nest.
• intransitive verb To create and settle into a warm and secure refuge.
• intransitive verb To hunt for birds' nests, especially in order to collect the eggs.
• intransitive verb To fit one inside another.
• intransitive verb To place in or as if in a nest.
• intransitive verb To put snugly together or inside one another.

from The Century Dictionary.

• A Middle English form of next.
• To build or occupy a nest.
• To relieve nature.
• To search for nests: as, to go nesting or bird-nesting.
• To lodge or house in or as in a nest; provide with a place of shelter or resort; build habitations for; house: often used reflexively.
• To place (articles of graduated size belonging to a set) one within another. See nest, n., 6.
• noun A structure formed or used by a bird for incubation and the rearing of its young.
• noun A place where the eggs of insects, turtles, etc., are laid; a place in which the young of certain small animals are reared, or a number of such animals dwelling together: as, a nest of rabbits.
• noun A snug place of residence; habitation; abode.
• noun Any abode, especially of evil things: as, a nest of vice.
• noun A number of persons dwelling or consorting together or resorting to the same haunt, or the haunt itself: generally in a bad sense.
• noun A series or set, as of boxes, baskets, trays, bowls, etc., of diminishing sizes, each fitting within the next in order.
• noun A connected series of cog-wheels or pulleys.
• noun In geology, an aggregated mass of any ore or mineral in an isolated state, within a rock.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To build and occupy a nest.
• noun The bed or receptacle prepared by a fowl for holding her eggs and for hatching and rearing her young.
• noun The place in which the eggs of other animals, as insects, turtles, etc., are laid and hatched; a snug place in which young animals are reared.
• noun A snug, comfortable, or cozy residence or situation; a retreat, or place of habitual resort; hence, those who occupy a nest, frequent a haunt, or are associated in the same pursuit
• noun (Geol.) An aggregated mass of any ore or mineral, in an isolated state, within a rock.
• noun A collection of boxes, cases, or the like, of graduated size, each put within the one next larger.
• noun (Mech.) A compact group of pulleys, gears, springs, etc., working together or collectively.
• transitive verb To put into a nest; to form a nest for.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A structure built by a bird as a place to incubate eggs and rear young.
• noun A place used by another mammal, fish, amphibian or insect, for depositing eggs and hatching young.
• noun A snug, comfortable, or cozy residence or job situation.
• noun A retreat, or place of habitual resort.
• noun A hideout for bad people to frequent or haunt; a den.
• noun A home that a child or young adult shares with a parent, guardian, or a person acting in the capacity of a parent or guardian. A parental home.
• noun card games A fixed amount of cards in some bidding games awarded to the highest bidder allowing him to exchange any or all with cards in his hand.
• noun military A fortified position for a weapon, e.g. a machine gun nest.
• noun computing A structure consisting of nested structures, such as nested loops or nested subroutine calls.