fly the nest
/ˌflaɪ ðə ˈnest/INFORMAL · B2
Meaning
to leave your parents' house and live on your own
Examples
- 1Both our children have flown the nest, so the house feels very quiet now.
- 2Most of my friends flew the nest at eighteen, but I stayed until I was twenty-five.
- 3Maria is saving for a deposit because she can't wait to fly the nest and get her own flat.
- 4When the twins finally flew the nest, their parents turned one bedroom into an office.
- 5Is Leo ever going to fly the nest, or will he live with his mum forever?
Grammar
Only fly changes: flies, flying, flew, flown. Keep the nest fixed; leave the nest is also used.
More idioms about home
All 20 idioms and the topic quiz →outstay your welcometo stay somewhere as a guest for too longhome sweet homesaid when you are happy to be back in your own houseunder one roofin the same buildingeat someone out of house and hometo consume most of the food someone has at homehit the sackto go to bedrule the roostto be the person who makes the decisions in a group
English Idioms400 idioms in 20 topics — with reviews that keep them from fading
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