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.
All that is to say, when Black moseyed into a Bluesky hornet’s nest about the upcoming HBO “Harry Potter” series, I honestly think he underestimated how much he’d get stung.
From Salon ● Apr. 2, 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 judges said when they directed the temple officials to produce complete files and records relating to the repair of the idols, "little did we realise, that we were in fact opening a hornet's nest".
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025
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
“But instead of destroying the file, you raised a whole hornet’s nest of mess.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
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.
