1
: the nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches young
2
b
: any of several dishes commonly containing nuts or fruit (such as an apple dumpling or a cobbler)
3
: any of several plants having a real or fancied resemblance to a bird's nest
5
a
: a snarl of fishing line at the reel : backlash
b
: a mass of tangled hair
If the younger girl's hair was a bird's nest of tangles, her choice of clothing torn blue jeans and an oversized sweater spotted with burrs and prickly seeds, it was simply because she was endlessly active.—
Charles de Lint, Memory and Dream, 1994 Irie … turned up for her appointment three-thirty on the dot, … a headscarf disguising the bird's nest of her hair, her right hand carefully placed upon her stomach.—Zadie Smith, White Teeth, 2000
: to hunt for or take birds' nests or their contents
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
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