nook
Americannoun
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a corner, as in a room.
-
any secluded or obscure corner.
-
any small recess.
a breakfast nook.
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any remote or sheltered spot.
a shady nook that was ideal for a picnic.
noun
-
a corner or narrow recess, as in a room
-
a secluded or sheltered place; retreat
Other Word Forms
- nooklike adjective
Etymology
Origin of nook
1250–1300; Middle English nok
Explanation
A nook is a cozy little corner or a small, safe area. A nook in the library can be a nice place to sit and read. If you have a "breakfast nook" in your kitchen, you know it's a space set back from the main room, maybe built into a corner or under a window, where you can sit at a small table. All nooks are small and sheltered in some way. You may have come across nook in the phrase "nook and cranny." This is often meant figuratively, as when you search every single nook and cranny in your whole house looking for your wallet.
Vocabulary lists containing nook
The BFG
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Mississippi Trial, 1955
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The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Koch, for instance, sleeps "suspended like a bat" while Glover fits himself into a narrow nook between space equipment and the ceiling of the spacecraft.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
During business hours, they were welcome to use the store’s water fountains, its bathrooms, its electricity, to read in the reading nook, or nod off, if need be.
From Slate • Mar. 25, 2026
Several were sleeping in a nook by the stairs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026
Adjacent to the cuisine center is a breakfast nook with a round table.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 18, 2026
Someone stepped out of the vending machine nook holding a bucket of ice.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
