definitions

mare's-nest

[ mairz-nest ]
/ ˈmɛərzˌnɛst /
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mare's-nest ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

something imagined to be an extraordinary discovery but proving to be a delusion or a hoax: The announced cure for the disease was merely another mare's-nest.
an extremely confused, entangled, or disordered place, situation, etc.: We just moved in, and the place is a mare's-nest.

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RELATED WORDS

lie, fraud, scam, illusion, ruse, hoax, trick, subterfuge, cover-up, stratagem, cheat, whitewash, sting, catch, sham, artifice, pretext, gimmick, story, decoy

Nearby words

mare sirenum, mare tranquillitatis, mare tyrrhenum, mare undarum, mare vaporum, mare's-nest, mare's-tail, marek's disease, maremma, maremma sheepdog, marengo

Origin of mare's-nest

First recorded in 1610–20
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for mare's-nest

mare's-nest

noun

a discovery imagined to be important but proving worthless
a disordered situation
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