HOTBED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hotbed mean? 

• HOTBED (noun)
  The noun HOTBED has 2 senses:

1. a situation that is ideal for rapid development (especially of something bad)

2. a bed of earth covered with glass and heated by rotting manure to promote the growth of plants

  Familiarity information: HOTBED used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOTBED (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A situation that is ideal for rapid development (especially of something bad)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

it was a hotbed of vice

Hypernyms ("hotbed" is a kind of...):

situation; state of affairs (the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A bed of earth covered with glass and heated by rotting manure to promote the growth of plants

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("hotbed" is a kind of...):

bed (a plot of ground in which plants are growing)