| 释义 |
empty nest, empty nester empty nestA family home inhabited by parents after their children have grown up and departed. Many parents feel depressed when they are left in an empty nest.See also: empty, nestempty nesterA parent whose children have moved out of the home. When our youngest goes off to college next year, we'll officially be empty nesters.See also: empty, nesterempty nestThe home of parents whose children have grown up and moved out. For example, Now that they had an empty nest, Jim and Jane opened a bed-and-breakfast. This expression, alluding to a nest from which baby birds have flown, gave rise to such related ones as empty-nester, for a parent whose children had moved out, and empty-nest syndrome, for the state of mind of parents whose children had left. [c. 1970] See also: empty, nestempty nester a person whose children have grown up and left home. informalSee also: empty, nesterempty nest, empty nesterA home from which the grown children have moved out, leaving some unoccupied bedrooms; also, the parent(s) in such a home. The term has also given rise to “empty nest syndrome,” the feelings of sadness engendered by the situation. An NBC sitcom entitled Empty Nest aired from 1988 to 1995. The expression dates from the second half of the 1900s.See also: empty, nester |