snake pit
Americannoun
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a mental hospital marked by squalor and inhumane or indifferent care for the patients.
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an intensely chaotic or disagreeable place or situation.
Etymology
Origin of snake pit
First recorded in 1945–50
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.
“They’re in a snake pit, and they’ve got to be very careful.”
From MarketWatch • Oct. 15, 2025
That thrilled Largent, who noted that Mile High Stadium in Denver was “a snake pit to play in” because of their rabid fans.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2023
Social media will still be a snake pit on both sides.
From BBC • Dec. 2, 2021
“Just a big snake pit of siphons,” he said.
From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2021
In Skadden, the legal historian Lincoln Caplan describes that early world of takeovers: The winner of a proxy contest was determined in the snake pit.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
