What Does “cuckoo in the nest” mean?
Definition:
A cuckoo in the nest is an unwelcome intruder in a place or situation which crowds out everything else.
Origin
The cuckoos are a family of birds. They lay their eggs in the nest of another, smaller bird, often a hedge sparrow, or a meadow pipit. When the cuckoo egg hatches, the baby cuckoo pushes out the eggs of the host from the nest, one by one. Not realizing that they have been tricked, the host pair then feed the baby cuckoo. Because the baby cuckoo is much bigger than the hosts’ usual offspring, feeding the cuckoo egg might be very tiring.
Example(s)
When the whole dossier is finally analyzed, the rural policy regulation appears to have become the cuckoo in the nest. (europarl.europa.eu)
These issues will become cuckoos in the nest and this will be damaging.
