nest
nest — 名詞
1. a bowl-shaped home that birds weave from twigs, grass, or mud to lay their eggs
鳥巢；巢穴
鳥類或昆蟲為產卵、育幼而建造的結構
a bowl-shaped home that birds weave from twigs, grass, or mud to lay their eggs in and rear their young, or a similar shelter that insects and other tiny animals make for their babies
A sparrow built a nest in the old mailbox outside the Watanabes' house.
一隻麻雀在渡邊家門口的舊信箱裡築了一個巢。
nest built in an unusual place
João spotted a robin's nest tucked inside the garden hedge with three blue eggs.
João 看到花園樹籬裡有一個知更鳥的巢，裡面有三顆藍色的蛋。
A wasp nest the size of a football hung from a branch in Kwame's backyard.
Kwame 的後院樹枝上掛著一個足球般大小的虎頭蜂巢。
Early each spring, swallows return to the same nest under the bridge to raise their chicks.
每年早春，燕子都會回到橋下同一個巢裡養育雛鳥。
文法句型
a nest (of/built by [animal])
nest + verb (hold/contain/protect)
用法筆記
For mammals, speakers usually choose a more specific word: 'den' for foxes and bears, 'burrow' for rabbits and badgers, 'lair' for lions and tigers.
常見錯誤
2. a place where someone lives that feels warm, safe, and comfortable — the kind of
安樂窩
給人溫暖安全感的家
a place where someone lives that feels warm, safe, and comfortable — the kind of home that gives you a sense of peace and belonging
After years of moving between rented rooms, the Chang family finally had a nest they could call their own.
在多年的租房生活後，張家終於擁有了屬於自己的安樂窩。
Élise turned her attic studio into a cosy little nest with cushions, fairy lights, and warm blankets.
Élise 用靠墊、串燈和保暖毛毯，把她的閣樓工作室變成了一個溫馨的小窩。
cosy little nest — common informal pattern
For Bilal, the cottage in the hills was the perfect nest after twenty years of city noise.
對 Bilal 來說，山間小屋在二十年城市喧囂後成了完美的安樂窩。
Yael decorated her new apartment with plants and soft rugs to make it feel like a real nest.
Yael 用植物和柔軟的地毯裝飾她的新公寓，讓它感覺像一個真正的溫暖小窩。
- cage
a place that feels restrictive rather than warm and comfortable
文法句型
a nest (for [someone])
a cosy/warm/little nest
用法筆記
Always used affectionately — calling a home a 'nest' suggests warmth, security, and comfort, never a negative judgment. A 'love nest' is a home shared by a romantic couple.
常見錯誤
❌ 'They bought a new house, but it doesn't feel like a nest yet.' — This is actually correct; it's fine as a metaphor. A more common error is using it in formal writing where 'home' would be better.
3. a place where harmful, secret, or illegal activities develop and grow — for exam
溫床；窩點
罪惡或秘密活動滋生、發展的地點
a place where harmful, secret, or illegal activities develop and grow — for example, a hideout used by criminals to plan robberies or a secret centre of political plotting
The police discovered a nest of counterfeiters operating in an abandoned warehouse.
警方在一間廢棄倉庫裡發現了一個偽鈔集團的窩點。
nest of + criminals — common pattern
The small coastal town had become a nest of smugglers who moved goods by night.
那個沿海小鎮成了走私者的巢穴，他們在夜間運送貨物。
Rohan warned that the online forum was a nest of scammers targeting elderly people.
Rohan 警告說，那個線上論壇是詐騙集團鎖定老年人的溫床。
Journalists uncovered a nest of corruption inside the government department.
記者揭露了該政府部門內部存在一個腐敗溫床。
文法句型
a nest of [bad people/activities]
用法筆記
Always followed by 'of' plus a noun describing the bad activity or people (nest of spies, nest of thieves, nest of intrigue). The word carries a strong negative judgment — it implies the problem is well-established and hard to eliminate.
常見錯誤
4. a group of matching household items, such as bowls, tables, or boxes, that are m
成套嵌套
尺寸遞減、可相互套疊的一組物品
a group of matching household items, such as bowls, tables, or boxes, that are made in graduated sizes so each one fits neatly and compactly inside the next larger one
The wooden bowls were sold as a nest of three, each one fitting inside the next.
這些木碗以三個一組的形式出售，每個都可以放入下一個更大的碗中。
nest of + number — common pattern
Tyler bought a nest of tables for the living room because they save space when stacked.
Tyler 為客廳買了一組套桌，因為疊放起來很節省空間。
A traditional Russian nest of dolls contains up to fifteen painted figures hidden one inside another.
傳統的俄羅斯套娃一組最多包含十五個彩繪人偶，一個套在另一個裡面。
The nesting bowls from the kitchen shop stack neatly and take up very little cupboard room.
廚房用品店的嵌套碗可以整齊堆疊，只佔用很少的櫥櫃空間。
文法句型
nest of [items]
nesting [item] — as compound noun
用法筆記
Often used as the first part of a compound noun: 'nesting tables', 'nesting bowls', 'nesting dolls'. The phrase 'a nest of tables' refers to the complete set, while 'nesting tables' describes the design feature.
常見錯誤
nest — 動詞
1. to create a nest using natural materials such as twigs, grass, or mud, then live
築巢；做窩
鳥類或動物建造巢穴並在裡面育幼
to create a nest using natural materials such as twigs, grass, or mud, then live in it to lay eggs and care for young — a behaviour typical of birds, insects, and some other animals
Turtles nest on the same sandy beach where they themselves were born decades earlier.
海龜會在牠們數十年前出生的同一片沙灘上築巢產卵。
The swans have nested by the lake every spring for as long as anyone in the village can remember.
這對天鵝每年春天都會在湖邊築巢，村裡的人都記得這件事。
nest + by/at/in [location]
Those seagulls nested on the rooftop after the chimney was removed during renovation work.
那些海鷗在煙囪拆除後，就在翻修中的屋頂上做了窩。
Field biologists put up nest boxes to encourage bluebirds to nest in the restored grassland.
野外生物學家放置了巢箱，鼓勵藍知更鳥在復育的草地上築巢。
文法句型
[animal] nests (in/on/under [place])
nesting + noun (season/site/behaviour)
用法筆記
Intransitive only — you cannot 'nest something'. The noun 'nesting' is common as an adjective: 'nesting season', 'nesting material', 'nesting site'. Do not confuse with 'nestle' (to settle comfortably).
常見錯誤
2. to place one object partly or completely inside another of a similar shape so th
套疊
將同形物品相互套疊，緊密貼合
to place one object partly or completely inside another of a similar shape so that they fit together neatly and compactly, especially when the objects are designed in matching sizes for this purpose
The chef nested the smaller mixing bowls inside the largest one to save cupboard space.
廚師把較小的攪拌碗放進最大的碗裡，以節省櫥櫃空間。
nest [smaller object] inside [larger object] — transitive
These plastic storage crates are designed to nest inside each other when not in use.
這些塑膠收納箱的設計就是不用時可以一個套進另一個裡面。
nest inside each other — intransitive reciprocal
Wei nested the plastic food containers inside one another before putting them in the cupboard.
Wei 把塑膠食物保鮮盒一個套進另一個裡面，再放進櫥櫃。
The measuring cups nest neatly, taking up barely any room in the kitchen drawer.
這些量杯可以整齊地套疊在一起，幾乎不佔抽屜空間。
- scatter
to spread things out instead of fitting them together compactly
文法句型
nest [object] inside/within [another]
[items] nest (inside each other)
用法筆記
The transitive form ('nest the bowls inside each other') is more common in instructions and active descriptions. The intransitive form ('the bowls nest neatly') describes a design property. Often used in the passive: 'The chairs can be nested for storage.'
常見錯誤
3. to place a block of computer code, a piece of data, or a text element inside a l
巢狀；嵌套
在電腦系統中將程式碼或資料分層包含
to place a block of computer code, a piece of data, or a text element inside a larger unit of the same type, creating layers of structure within a hierarchical system
The programmer nested the conditional statement inside two loops to check every possible case.
程式設計師將條件陳述式巢狀寫入兩個迴圈中，以檢查每一種可能的情況。
nest [code element] inside [structure] — transitive
Our email system nests each reply beneath the original message so the whole conversation stays together.
我們的郵件系統會將每封回信嵌套在原始郵件下方，讓整個對話保持連貫。
A nested folder structure with too many levels can make it hard to find your documents quickly.
層級過多的巢狀資料夾結構，會讓你很難快速找到文件。
Jason created a stylesheet that nests each category inside a parent class for easier maintenance.
Jason 建立了一個樣式表，將每個類別嵌套在父類別之下，以方便維護。
- flatten
to remove hierarchical structure and put everything at the same level
文法句型
nest [code/data] inside/within [structure]
nested + noun (loop/function/folder/query)
用法筆記
The past participle 'nested' is extremely common as an adjective: 'nested loops', 'nested functions', 'nested folders', 'nested quotes'. In everyday contexts, 'nested' describes any information structure where units contain smaller units of the same type.