bird's-nest soup

A form of bird's nest soup — A Chinese delicacy made from edible bird's nests, prized for its smooth texture and delicate flavor.

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Meanings

nounbird's-nest soup (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of bird's nest soup.

    Bird’s-nest soup is what it sounds like, and is held as a great delicacy and status symbol in China. It’s believed the soup promotes health and retards aging.

    2008 January 23, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, “Flair, not flavor in bird’s-nest soup dish […]”, in The Herald-Sun, Durham N.C.: Durham Herald Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page C4, column 5
    2 more examples

    The dinner commenced with a large bowl of bird’s-nest soup, from which each person helped himself; it was very insipid until flavoured with soy—the necessary condiments of salt and pepper appearing to be wholly neglected in Chinese cookery.

    1837 November 22, “National Customs”, in Ward’s Miscellany: […], volume I, number 47, London: Thomas Ward and Co., […] Ainsworth and Sons, […], →OCLC, page 752, column 2

    Three kinds of swiftlets nest here, but only those in the highest reaches build their nests of pure saliva. These are the delicacies made by the Chinese into bird’s-nest soup.

    2003 August 10, Georgia Tasker, “Borneo an unbelievable place to visit”, in The Santa Fe New Mexican, 154th year, number 222, Santa Fe, N.M., →ISSN, →OCLC, page G-3, column 5
Cite this entry
APA

bird's-nest soup. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bird's-nest%20soup

MLA

“bird's-nest soup.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bird's-nest%20soup. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bird's-nest soup,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bird's-nest%20soup.

Source: bird's-nest soup on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.