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.
Shadi lives in Melbourne, in Australia, but her parents' home is in a neighbourhood of Tehran known as "the hornet's nest".
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026
Curiously, I never really got angry at the North Koreans, on the assumption that if you kick the hornet’s nest and get stung, you can’t really blame the hornets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
The trooper said he “didn’t really see a need to stir up the hornet’s nest for such a minor violation.”
From Seattle Times ● May 5, 2023
David Guillemard, a striker who has worked at the Total refinery for 22 years, said the back-to-work order had kicked a hornet’s nest.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2022
But it seemed we were going undercover right into the hornet’s nest itself.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
