hornet's nest
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of hornet's nest
First recorded in 1730–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Smith stepped into a hornets nest in his first college golf tournament and it had nothing to do with his high score.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 12, 2021
The first murder hornets nest - found in a tree and destroyed in late October in Whatcom County along the Canadian border - was about the size of a basketball.
From Washington Times • Nov. 10, 2020
The predatory hornets nest in the ground and are known to attack honeybee hives and kill the adult bees inside before feasting on larvae and pupae, according to Washington State University.
From Fox News • May 7, 2020
We get up to see that we have disturbed a hornets nest.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
When they come by gallopin' I throwd an' hit that big old hornets nest.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 2 by Work Projects Administration
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
