hotbed
a bottomless, boxlike, usually glass-covered structure and the bed of earth it covers, heated typically by fermenting manure or electrical cables, for growing plants out of season.
a place or environment favoring rapid growth or spread, especially of something disliked or unwanted: a hotbed of disease.
Slang. a bed shared by two or more persons in shifts, each sleeping in it for or at a designated time and then vacating it for the next occupant.
Slang. to share a bed in shifts, so that it is always occupied.
Origin of hotbed
1Words Nearby hotbed
Other definitions for hot bed (2 of 2)
an area having rails or rolls on which rolled pieces are laid to cool.
Origin of hot bed
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use hotbed in a sentence
Large gatherings can be a hotbed of germs, can pose dangers such as stampedes and heat stroke, and can encourage risky behaviors such as excessive alcohol consumption and unprotected sex.
Large events can be cesspools of germs. Here’s why we ache for them, anyway. | Galadriel Watson | May 13, 2021 | Washington PostThe Atlantic League, a hotbed for innovation in baseball, announced plans Wednesday to move the pitcher’s mound back 12 inches from home plate this season.
In the minors, a major change as the Atlantic League plans to move the mound back a foot | Jacob Bogage, Chelsea Janes | April 14, 2021 | Washington PostIt has become such a hotbed for political news that Twitter has instituted fact checking on the site.
Finding the best social media platform for your audience and business | Sponsored Content: Exults | April 8, 2021 | Search Engine LandAfrica’s southern Kalahari Desert is not typically regarded as a hotbed of Stone Age innovations.
Stone Age culture bloomed inland, not just along Africa’s coasts | Bruce Bower | March 31, 2021 | Science NewsGroups have been a hotbed for many of Facebook’s biggest problems, including misinformation and hate speech.
Baseball has long been the most popular sport in Cuba and the island has long been a hotbed of baseball talent.
Is Major League Baseball Ready For Cuba’s Players? | Ben Jacobs | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn the early 1960s Cambridge University was a hotbed of cultural and social insurrection.
It is also overwhelmingly pro-regime, and since the start of Syrian unrest the region has become a hotbed of pro-Assad activity.
The Gorge has always been a hotbed of radicalism and arms smuggling, but now it is fast becoming a shahid factory.
The Secret Life of an ISIS Warlord | Will Cathcart, Vazha Tavberidze, Nino Burchuladze | October 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs their grip loosens, the island, and particularly its capital city, is morphing into a fashionable, gorgeous hotbed of tourism.
The hotbed frames and sashes were put away for future use, as it was too late to need them now.
The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard EatonWhen he saw early spring vegetables growing in a hotbed, he said: How does that loose covering keep them warm?
Heroes of To-Day | Mary R. ParkmanIn Corsica they do nothing, restlessly; while Sardinia, as all the world knows, is a hotbed of active discontent.
The Isle of Unrest | Henry Seton MerrimanZurich, as you know, is a hotbed of radicalism, and those young women who went to learn soon imbibed the wildest ideas.
Condemned as a Nihilist | George Alfred HentyIf the loam is a heavy one, place the pot in a warm situation; a spent hotbed is a good place.
The Practical Garden-Book | C. E. Hunn
British Dictionary definitions for hotbed
/ (ˈhɒtˌbɛd) /
a glass-covered bed of soil, usually heated by fermenting material, used for propagating plants, forcing early vegetables, etc
a place offering ideal conditions for the growth of an idea, activity, etc, esp one considered bad: a hotbed of insurrection
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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