"mare's nest" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Alteration of earlier horse's nest, from the fanciful and unlikely notion that horses make nests.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "mare's nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mares' nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "mares' nests"
      },
      "expansion": "mare's nest (plural mare's nests or mares' nests)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "figurative"
      },
      "expansion": "(figurative)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "70 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "78 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "80 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonyms: bullshit, horseshit"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1620, John Fletcher (playwright), Bonduca, V.2",
          "text": "Why dost thou laugh? What Mares nest hast thou found?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A great discovery which turns out to be illusory; especially, a hoax."
      ],
      "id": "en-mare's_nest-en-noun-en:illusory_discovery__especially__a_hoax",
      "links": [
        [
          "illusory",
          "illusory"
        ],
        [
          "hoax",
          "hoax"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:illusory discovery, especially, a hoax"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: boar's nest"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 277:",
          "text": "Though Chancellor Maupeou had supported the idea of a trial [...], the legal proceedings developed into a mare's nest of accusations and counter-accusations.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A confused or complicated situation; a muddle."
      ],
      "id": "en-mare's_nest-en-noun-en:complicated_mess",
      "links": [
        [
          "confused",
          "confused"
        ],
        [
          "complicated",
          "complicated"
        ],
        [
          "muddle",
          "muddle"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "word": "blinker fluid"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "word": "muffler bearing"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "word": "fool's gold"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "word": "hen's tooth"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "word": "rocking horse shit"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "19 81",
          "word": "snark"
        }
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:complicated mess"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "rat's nest"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛːz nɛst/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-mare's nest.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9d/En-au-mare%27s_nest.ogg/En-au-mare%27s_nest.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/En-au-mare%27s_nest.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "mare's nest"
  ],
  "word": "mare's nest"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Alteration of earlier horse's nest, from the fanciful and unlikely notion that horses make nests.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "mare's nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "mares' nests",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "mares' nests"
      },
      "expansion": "mare's nest (plural mare's nests or mares' nests)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "figurative"
      },
      "expansion": "(figurative)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "blinker fluid"
    },
    {
      "word": "muffler bearing"
    },
    {
      "word": "fool's gold"
    },
    {
      "word": "hen's tooth"
    },
    {
      "word": "rocking horse shit"
    },
    {
      "word": "snark"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonyms: bullshit, horseshit"
        },
        {
          "ref": "c. 1620, John Fletcher (playwright), Bonduca, V.2",
          "text": "Why dost thou laugh? What Mares nest hast thou found?"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A great discovery which turns out to be illusory; especially, a hoax."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "illusory",
          "illusory"
        ],
        [
          "hoax",
          "hoax"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:illusory discovery, especially, a hoax"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: boar's nest"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 277:",
          "text": "Though Chancellor Maupeou had supported the idea of a trial [...], the legal proceedings developed into a mare's nest of accusations and counter-accusations.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A confused or complicated situation; a muddle."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "confused",
          "confused"
        ],
        [
          "complicated",
          "complicated"
        ],
        [
          "muddle",
          "muddle"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "en:complicated mess"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "rat's nest"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈmɛːz nɛst/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "en-au-mare's nest.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/9d/En-au-mare%27s_nest.ogg/En-au-mare%27s_nest.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/En-au-mare%27s_nest.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "mare's nest"
  ],
  "word": "mare's nest"
}