Word of The Day for Saturday, March 12, 2011

nidify

nid•i•fy (NID-uh-fahy)  v

Definition:
to build a nest

nidified past tense; nidifying present participle; nidification noun; nidificate verb

Origin:
1658; from Latin nidificare "to build a nest", from nidus "nest"

Related:
Related Words: nest

Sentence Examples:
• And not only will the Osmiae return, through the always open windows, but they will also nidify on the natal spot, if they find something like the necessary conditions. -The Wonders of Instinct, J. H. Fabre

• Some say, from personal observation, that they nidify upon the grain exclusively—others, with equal confidence and as I believe with more propriety, say exclusively upon the leaf and stalk; the parent fly has necessarily been mistaken. Some affirm that they finish their nidification by the 20th of September: Dr. Chapman is of this opinion. -The American journal of science and arts, 1832

• Perhaps no other bird in the world has chosen so many varied places to nidify. From our own observation we have seen the sparrow breeding in the same tree as the rook, and occasionally even intruding on the domain of the heron, taking up its quarters some twenty yards below, and making amends, by its noisy bustle, for the gravity of its more silent neighbour. -The natural history of the birds of Ireland, indigenous and migratory, John J. Watters

Sources: Wordnik, Merriam-Webster

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