Word.ws English Dictionary

hornets' nests

hornets' nests is the plural of hornets' nest.

Meaning of hornets' nest

Noun

hornets' nest (plural hornets' nests)

  1. (literal) A nest of hornets.
  2. (figuratively) An unpleasant or controversial situation likely to be exacerbated by outside involvement.
    • Now what a-devil has set this hornet's nest of theirs abuzz so suddenly?1902, Francis Lynde, The Master of Appleby

Questions about hornets' nests

What is hornets' nests the plural of?
Hornets' nests is the plural of hornets' nest.

Words near hornets' nests in the dictionary

  1. hornet fly
  2. hornet's nest
  3. hornetlike
  4. hornets
  5. hornets' nest
  6. hornets' nests
  7. hornety
  8. Horney
  9. Horneys
  10. Horneytown
  11. hornfels

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hornets' nests (page history and authors); hornets' nest (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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