hornet's nestnoun [ C usually singular ]
uk/ˌhɔː.nɪts ˈnest/us/ˌhɔːr.nɪts ˈnest/a very difficult or unpleasant situation, especially in which a lot of people get very angry and complain:
His remarks about the lack of good women tennis players stirred up a (real) hornet's nest.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Difficult situations and unpleasant experiences
- a (heavy) cross to bear idiom
- a cloud on the horizon idiom
- a fate worse than death idiom
- a hard/tough row to hoe idiom
- a narrow squeak idiom
- barrel
- bind
- crunch
- curse
- eventuality
- fate
- feeding frenzy
- going
- have a bumpy ride idiom
- schtuck
- shtook
- stalemate
- standoff
- sticky wicket
- vortex
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