Meaning & use
crow's nest
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small platform high on a ship's mast where a sailor stands to watch for land, other ships, or danger.
Grammar: Countable: say a crow's nest, the crow's nest, or two crow's nests.
Patterns
- in the crow's nest
- climb to the crow's nest
- a lookout in the crow's nest
The lookout spent four hours in the crow's nest, scanning the horizon for land.
From the crow's nest, the sailor could see the storm clouds gathering far to the west.
The old ship still has its wooden crow's nest, though nobody uses it now.
nouncountablefigurative
A similar high lookout point on a building, tower, or other structure.
Grammar: Used figuratively or for real structures that copy the shape of a ship's lookout platform.
Patterns
- a crow's nest on something
- from a crow's nest
The lighthouse keeper watched the sea from a crow's nest built at the very top.
They turned the roof into a crow's nest with a wide view of the whole harbor.
Word forms
| plural | crow's nests |
|---|
Common combinations
- climb into the crow's nest
- The young sailor climbed into the crow's nest before dawn.
- the ship's crow's nest
- A flag flew from the ship's crow's nest.
- a lookout in the crow's nest
- The captain sent a lookout to the crow's nest.
- high in the crow's nest
- High in the crow's nest, he felt the mast sway with every wave.
- spot something from the crow's nest
- They spotted the island from the crow's nest just before sunset.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lookout
- Lookout means the act of watching or the person watching; a crow's nest is the platform itself.
- observation post
- Observation post is a more general military term for any high watching point, not specifically on a ship.
- watchtower
- A watchtower is a tall building or structure on land, while a crow's nest is a small platform on a mast.
Word family
- crow noun
- the large black bird that gave the platform its name
Commonly confused: crow's nest or nest?
crow's nest vs nest
A nest is where a bird lays eggs; a crow's nest on a ship is named for its shape, not because birds live there.
Practice
Where would you most likely find a crow's nest?
Choose one answer.
A crow's nest is a lookout platform fixed near the top of a ship's mast, so 'high on the mast of a sailing ship' fits. A tree nest belongs to a bird, and the other places are not ship masts.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crow's nest”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.