hotbed
/ˈhɒtbɛd
/noun
1An environment promoting the growth of something, especially something unwelcome: the country was a hotbed of revolt and dissension...
- It has always been a hotbed of espionage activity.
- It's also a hotbed of heterosexual sex - not something that's normally rife at fashion magazines, which are staffed chiefly by women and gay men.
- Offices are regularly swept for bugs, and even after the Cold War the United Nations remains for some a hotbed of espionage.
Synonyms
breeding ground, nursery, cradle, nest, den, seedbed, forcing house
2A bed of earth heated by fermenting manure, for raising or forcing plants.
- refectory table
- refeed
- refeel
- refer
- referability
- referable
- referee
- referee's assistant
- refereeship
- reference
- reference bible
- reference book
- reference card
- reference catalog
- figure eight
- figure floating
- figure-ground
- figurehead
- figure-hugging
- figureless
- figure of eight
- figure of fun
- figure of merit
- figure of speech
- figure on