Word.ws English Dictionary

nestling

/ˈnɛstlɪŋ/

nestling noun: a small, young bird that is still confined to the nest. Also the present participle and gerund of nestle.

nestling: a small, young bird that is still confined to the nest
Image: Qatar&Me from Doha, Qatar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

nestling (plural nestlings)

  1. A small, young bird that is still confined to the nest.
    Synonyms:
    quab
  2. (obsolete) A nest; a receptacle.
    • […] the Secrecies of the Paſſages; and the ſeats or neaſtling of the humours; […]1605, Francis Bacon, “The Second Booke”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for...

Noun (2)

IPA/ˈnɛsəlɪŋ/

nestling (plural nestlings)

  1. The act of one who nestles.
    • It was associated, to them, with vague sweet memories of loving nestlings in mother's arms, of soft warm coddlings before the fire, of slow rocking to and fro in the little, low, flag chair, and gradual droppings off to sleep […]1871, Kate Neely Hill Festetits, Actions speak louder than words

Also used as

nestling is also the present participle and gerund of nestle.

nestling meaning in Arabic

nestling in Arabic

small, young bird that is still confined to the nest
فَرْخ farḵ

Synonyms of nestling

Forms of nestling

pluralnestlings

Origin of nestling

From Middle English nestling, equivalent to nest + -ling.

From nestle + -ing.

Words that rhyme with nestling

Questions about nestling

What does nestling mean?
Nestling means a small, young bird that is still confined to the nest.
What is nestling in Arabic?
Nestling in Arabic is فَرْخ (farḵ). See Nestling meaning in Arabic.
What part of speech is nestling?
Nestling is a noun.
How do you pronounce nestling?
Nestling is pronounced /ˈnɛstlɪŋ/.
What is the plural of nestling?
The plural of nestling is nestlings.

Words near nestling in the dictionary

  1. nestless
  2. nestlessness
  3. nestlet
  4. nestlets
  5. nestlike
  6. nestling
  7. nestlingly
  8. nestlings
  9. nestmaking
  10. nestmate
  11. nestmates

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: nestling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-nestling (noun).wav.

Cite this entry: “nestling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/nestling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.