"hornets' nest" meaning in English

See hornets' nest in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: hornets' nests [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|head=hornets' nest}} hornets' nest (plural hornets' nests)
  1. (literal) A hornets' nest. Synonyms: hornet's nest Translations (a hornets' nest): herhiläispesä (Finnish), Hornissennest [neuter] (German), osir [masculine] (Slovene), nyth cacwn [masculine] (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-hornets'_nest-en-noun-2yxIsLs- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Italian translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations, Terms with Slovene translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Welsh translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 63 37 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 69 31 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 68 32 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 73 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 73 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 73 27 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 73 27 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 69 31 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Slovene translations: 76 24 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 78 22 Disambiguation of Terms with Welsh translations: 74 26 Disambiguation of "a hornets' nest": 100 0
  2. (figurative) An unpleasant or controversial situation likely to be exacerbated by outside involvement. Tags: figuratively Translations (an unpleasant or controversial situation): 馬蜂窩 /马蜂窝 (mǎfēngwō) (Chinese Mandarin), wespennest [neuter] (Dutch), ampiaispesä (Finnish), Wespennest [neuter] (German), darázsfészek (Hungarian), ginepraio (Italian), оси́ное гнездо́ (osínoje gnezdó) [neuter] (Russian), osinje gnijezdo [neuter] (Serbo-Croatian), nido de avispas (Spanish), nyth cacwn [masculine] (Welsh)
    Sense id: en-hornets'_nest-en-noun-utGeYfKN Disambiguation of 'an unpleasant or controversial situation': 1 99

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

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  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hornets' nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "63 37",
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      "glosses": [
        "A hornets' nest."
      ],
      "id": "en-hornets'_nest-en-noun-2yxIsLs-",
      "links": [
        [
          "hornet",
          "hornet"
        ]
      ],
      "qualifier": "literal",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(literal) A hornets' nest."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "word": "hornet's nest"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a hornets' nest",
          "word": "herhiläispesä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a hornets' nest",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Hornissennest"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "sl",
          "lang": "Slovene",
          "sense": "a hornets' nest",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "osir"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "100 0",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "a hornets' nest",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "nyth cacwn"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1902, Francis Lynde, The Master of Appleby:",
          "text": "Now what a-devil has set this hornet's nest of theirs abuzz so suddenly?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Tom Peavler, The Adjustment:",
          "text": "Those articles in the tabloids stirred up a real hornets' nest.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An unpleasant or controversial situation likely to be exacerbated by outside involvement."
      ],
      "id": "en-hornets'_nest-en-noun-utGeYfKN",
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        [
          "unpleasant",
          "unpleasant"
        ],
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          "controversial",
          "controversial"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "exacerbate",
          "exacerbate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) An unpleasant or controversial situation likely to be exacerbated by outside involvement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "mǎfēngwō",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "word": "馬蜂窩 /马蜂窝"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "wespennest"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "word": "ampiaispesä"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Wespennest"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "word": "darázsfészek"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "word": "ginepraio"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "osínoje gnezdó",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "оси́ное гнездо́"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "osinje gnijezdo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "word": "nido de avispas"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "nyth cacwn"
        }
      ]
    }
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  "word": "hornets' nest"
}
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  "forms": [
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      "form": "hornets' nests",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
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        "A hornets' nest."
      ],
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        "(literal) A hornets' nest."
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          "text": "Those articles in the tabloids stirred up a real hornets' nest.",
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        "(figurative) An unpleasant or controversial situation likely to be exacerbated by outside involvement."
      ],
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    {
      "word": "hornet's nest"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a hornets' nest",
      "word": "herhiläispesä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a hornets' nest",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Hornissennest"
    },
    {
      "code": "sl",
      "lang": "Slovene",
      "sense": "a hornets' nest",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "osir"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "a hornets' nest",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "nyth cacwn"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "mǎfēngwō",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "word": "馬蜂窩 /马蜂窝"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "wespennest"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "word": "ampiaispesä"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Wespennest"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "word": "darázsfészek"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "word": "ginepraio"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "osínoje gnezdó",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "оси́ное гнездо́"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "osinje gnijezdo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "word": "nido de avispas"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "an unpleasant or controversial situation",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "nyth cacwn"
    }
  ],
  "word": "hornets' nest"
}

Download raw JSONL data for hornets' nest meaning in English (3.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.