empty nest

English

Etymology

From birds whose offspring leave the nest when they reach maturity.

Noun

empty nest (plural empty nests)

1. A home or a family where the children have grown up and moved away.
   • 2011, Celia Dodd, The Empty Nest: Your Changing Family, Your New Direction‎^[1], Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     One woman with a full-on and demanding career e-mailed me to say ‘This empty nest thing is no joke. I didn't realise it would hit me so hard. It is day three of my daughter being gone and I have to resist the urge to weep every time I go past her room.’

   • 2014, Lisa O. Engelhardt, Empty Nest Therapy‎^[2], Open Road Media, →ISBN:

     Yet an “empty nest” can cause confusing emotions for parents. While this juncture can bring on sadness and loneliness, it can also signal newfound freedom and fulfillment.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see empty,‎ nest.

Derived terms

• empty nester

Translations

home or family where the children have moved away

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 空巢 (zh) (kōngcháo)

• Finnish: tyhjä pesä
• German: leeres Nest n
• Polish: puste gniazdo n

See also

• leave the nest