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mare's-nest

[ mairz-nest ]
/ ˈmɛərzˌnɛst /
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See synonyms for: mare's-nest / mare's-nests 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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Origin of mare's-nest

First recorded in 1610–20

Words nearby mare's-nest

Marenzio, mareograph, marero, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Sirenum, mare's-nest, mares of Diomedes, mare's-tail, Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Tyrrhenum, Mare Undarum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to mare's-nest

cover-up, fraud, hoax, illusion, lie, ruse, scam, subterfuge, trick, bluff, boondoggle, catch, cheat, chicane, con, decoy, device, dodge, fallacy, feint

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
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