Meaning:

Translated from the English term “cocooning,” this describes the scenario where a person isolates or hides him or herself from the normal social environment and instead opts to stay home. This behavior is usually exhibited when one perceives the social environment as disturbing, unfavorable, unsafe or unwelcome. The rapid innovation and growth of technology contributed to an increase in the number of individuals who are cocooning themselves in their homes and choosing to socialize over the internet rather than through normal human interaction. Most of these people don’t go to work or school, while a small number of them work from home via the internet.

Example:

A: 我感觉很久没看见邻居家的儿子出门了。

Wǒ gǎnjué hěnjiǔ méi kànjiàn línjūjiā de érzi chūmén le。

It seems that I haven’t seen the neighbor’s son out and about quite a while.

B: 是，这孩子干了几份工作都不长久，已经茧居半年了。

Shì，zhè háizi gàn le jǐfèn gōngzuò dōu bù zhǎngjiǔ，yǐjīng jiǎnjū bànnián le。

Indeed. The kid hopped from job to job, and has been cocooning without work for half a year.