empty nest
A 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. Now that our youngest is away at college, my husband and I are adjusting to our empty nest syndrome. I thought I would enjoy having a quiet house again, but it actually makes me sad—I guess my heart wasn't ready for an empty nest.
empty nester
A parent whose children have moved out of the home. When our youngest goes off to college next year, we'll officially be empty nesters. Many parents feel depressed when they are become empty nester. I thought I would enjoy having a quiet house again, but being an empty nester actually makes me sad.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
empty nest
The 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]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
an empty nester
An empty nester is a parent whose children have left home. I'm trying to prepare myself for becoming an empty nester when my youngest child goes to university.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
empty nester
a person whose children have grown up and left home. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
empty-nesters
n. parents whose children have grown and moved out. There are a few adjustments that empty-nesters have to make.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
empty nest, empty nester
A 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.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer