hotbed
[ hot-bed ]
/ ˈhɒtˌbɛd /
noun
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.
verb (used without object), hot·bed·ded, hot·bed·ding.
Slang. to share a bed in shifts, so that it is always occupied.
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Nearby words
hot-water bottle, hot-wire, hot-wire anemometer, hot-work, hotan, hotbed, hotbox, hotch, hotcha, hotchkiss, hotchpot
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for hotbed
British Dictionary definitions for hotbed
hotbed
/ (ˈhɒtˌbɛd) /
noun
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 bada 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
Word Origin and History for hotbed
hotbed
1620s, from hot + bed (n.); originally "bed of earth heated by fermenting manure for forcing growing plants;" generalized sense of "place that fosters rapid growth" is from 1768.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper