crow's nest

See also: crow's-nest and crowsnest

English

Alternative forms

• crow's-nest, crowsnest

Etymology

From the habit of crows building nests high up in trees.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

crow's nest (plural crow's nests)

1. (nautical) A small open-top shelter, originally a cask, on the top of the foremast, large enough to accommodate a lookout. It was used by whalers to watch for a blow (spout), or in icebound waters to seek a channel.
   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 35, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

     When Captain Sleet in person stood his mast-head in this crow’s-nest of his, he tells us that he always had a rifle with him (also fixed in the rack), together with a powder flask and shot, for the purpose of popping off the stray narwhales, or vagrant sea unicorns infesting those waters; […] .

Derived terms

• Crowsnest Pass

Related terms

• top, foretop

Translations

open-top shelter atop the foremast for a lookout

• Abkhaz: please add this translation if you can
• Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can
• Aghwan: please add this translation if you can
• Ainu: please add this translation if you can
• Akan: please add this translation if you can
• Aklanon: please add this translation if you can
• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Assamese: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: please add this translation if you can
• Breton: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Burmese: please add this translation if you can
• Circassian:

  West Circassian: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: vraní hnízdo c
• Danish: udkigstønde (da)
• Dutch: kraaiennest (nl) n
• Esperanto: gvatnesto
• Faroese: kagtunna f
• Finnish: märssykori (fi)
• French: nid-de-pie m, vigie (fr) f, gabie (fr) f
• German: Mastkorb m, Ausguck (de) m, (colloquial) Krähennest (de) n
• Greek: παρατηρητήριο (el) n (paratiritírio)

  Ancient Greek: καρχήσιον n (karkhḗsion) (historical)

• Hebrew: קַן הַעוֹרֵב (he) m (ken ha'orev)
• Hungarian: árbóckosár (hu)
• Icelandic: varðtunna f
• Irish: crannóg f
• Latin: carchesium n (historical)
• Norman: heune f
• Norwegian:

  Nynorsk: utkikstønne f

• Polish: bocianie gniazdo (pl) n, bocianiec m
• Portuguese: cesto da gávea m
• Russian: марс (ru) m (mars)
• Sicilian: coffa (scn) f
• Slovene: jamborni koš m
• Swedish: mastkorg c, utkikstunna c
• Ugaritic: 𐎎𐎕𐎔𐎚 (mṣpt)
• Ukrainian: ґав'яче гніздо n (gavʺjače hnizdo), вороняче гніздо n (voronjače hnizdo)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: maatabäset
• Welsh: nyth y frân m, nythod y frân m pl

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} carajo (es) m

Anagrams

• town cress