n (context|figuratively) The place of origin, or in which anything is nurtured or protected in the earlier period of existence.
n (context|figuratively)infancy | Infancy, or very early life.
n An implementconsisting of a broad scythe for cutting grain, with a set of long fingers parallel to the scythe, designed to receive the grain, and to lay it evenly in a swath.
n A tool used in mezzotintengraving, which, by a rocking motion, raises burrs on the surface of the plate, so preparing the ground.
n (nautical) A basket or apparatus in which, when a line has been made fast to a wrecked ship from the shore, the people are brought off from the wreck.