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- Dictionarymare's nest
noun
- 1. a complex or confused situation; a muddle: "your desk's usually a mare's nest"
- 2. an illusory discovery: "the mare's nest of perfect safety"
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Mare's nest is a noun that means a false discovery, illusion, or deliberate hoax, or a place, condition, or situation of great disorder or confusion. Learn more about its synonyms, examples, word history, and related articles.
The first, and ‘proper’ meaning, has it that finding a mare’s nest is imagining that one has found something remarkable when in fact one has found nothing of the sort. The second meaning, which is more widespread today, is that a mare’s nest is a confused mess – more on that later.
Mare's nest is a noun that means a discovery imagined to be important but proving worthless, or a disordered situation. Find out the origin, pronunciation, and examples of this phrase, and explore synonyms and related words.
Mare's-nest definition: something imagined to be an extraordinary discovery but proving to be a delusion or a hoax. See examples of MARE'S-NEST used in a sentence.
A mare's nest is here being used to symbolize something that does not exist, as horses do not make nests. The phrase is first recorded in the late 16th century, as is the variant a horse's nest , although the latter is now no longer in use.
Jun 2, 2024 · Learn the meaning and origin of the phrase mare's nest, which can mean a hoax or a muddle. Find out how to pronounce it and see examples and anagrams.
/ˌmɛrz ˈnɛst/ IPA guide. Definitions of mare's nest. noun. a confused multitude of things. synonyms: clutter, fuddle, jumble, muddle, smother, welter. see more. Cite this entry. Style: MLA. "Mare's nest." Vocabulary.com Dictionary, Vocabulary.com, https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mare's nest. Accessed 30 Jun. 2024. Copy citation.
