Bird's nest \Bird's" nest`\, or Bird's-nest \Bird's-nest\, n.

1. The nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches her young. [1913 Webster]

2. (Cookery) The nest of a small swallow (Collocalia nidifica and several allied species), of China and the neighboring countries, which is mixed with soups. [1913 Webster]

Note: The nests are found in caverns and fissures of cliffs on rocky coasts, and are composed in part of alg[ae]. They are of the size of a goose egg, and in substance resemble isinglass. See Illust. under Edible. [1913 Webster]

3. (Bot.) An orchideous plant with matted roots, of the genus Neottia (Neottia nidus-avis). [1913 Webster]

Bird's-nest pudding, a pudding containing apples whose cores have been replaced by sugar.

Yellow bird's nest, a plant, the Monotropa hypopitys. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

bird's nest

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

Bird's nest \Bird's" nest`\, or Bird's-nest \Bird's-nest\, n.

1. The nest in which a bird lays eggs and hatches her young.

2. (Cookery) The nest of a small swallow (Collocalia nidifica and several allied species), of China and the neighboring countries, which is mixed with soups.

Note: The nests are found in caverns and fissures of cliffs on rocky coasts, and are composed in part of alg[ae]. They are of the size of a goose egg, and in substance resemble isinglass. See Illust. under Edible.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)