nest egg
Americannoun
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money saved and held in reserve for emergencies, retirement, etc.
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a natural or artificial egg placed in a nest to induce a hen to continue laying eggs there.
noun
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a fund of money kept in reserve; savings
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a natural or artificial egg left in a nest to induce hens to lay their eggs in it
Etymology
Origin of nest egg
First recorded in 1600–10
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A 40-year-old in 1980 who put a chunk of their nest egg into gold only would have broken even last year, two decades into retirement.
“We don’t have a lot of money. We don’t have a nest egg. We don’t own property. If we were going to do anything, we would need help.”
From Los Angeles Times
He wants his children to be prepared to access a nest egg he has cultivated for almost four decades now with his “business plan.”
“If you have a long-term strategy in mind, the process of building a nest egg is more important than any individual transaction.”
From MarketWatch
The nest egg is in place, the kids are out of the house and the daily costs of working life have disappeared.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
