snake pit en · NOUN
Meanings
- A pit filled with snakes.
-
(figuratively) Any institution (such as a school, prison, hospital, etc.) run in an inept or inhumane way, or full of hostile or treacherous people.
He says he wants to bring “free speech” to the platform, but it’s a mystery what exactly that means, and how he would do so while preventing the service from devolving into a snake pit of hate and harassment even more venomous than it already is.
2022 April 28, Farhad Manjoo, “Is Elon Musk Really That Bad?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:Her friends try to persuade her, even fool her, into taking her medication; when she refuses, they try to commit her. She leaves for Ireland, where she has scheduled a speaking tour. There, she is arrested and incarcerated in a real snake-pit: the Our Lady of Clare rest home. And as she tries to figure out how to get out she realizes […]
1990 August 31, Amy Hoffman, “"Crazy" Or Just Crazy?”, in Gay Community News, volume 18, number 7, page 8:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| snake pits | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| snakepit | alternative | lexicographic |
Translations (13)
da ormegård (pit with snakes) · fi käärmeenpesä (pit with snakes) · sv ormgrop (pit with snakes) · sv ormgrop (institution) · pt ninho de cobra (pit with snakes) · tl butas-ahas (pit with snakes) · de Schlangengrube (pit with snakes) · bg змиярник (pit with snakes) · ru гадюшник (institution) · de Schlangengrube (institution) · fr nid de vipères (institution) · fi käärmeenpesä (institution) · pl wariatkowo (institution)