hotbed

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noun hot·bed \ˈhät-ˌbed\

Definition of hotbed

1 : a bed of soil enclosed in glass, heated especially by fermenting manure, and used for forcing or for raising seedlings
2 : an environment that favors rapid growth or development a hotbed of activity

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Examples of hotbed in a Sentence

a hotbed of political unrest
prerevolutionary Boston was viewed as a hotbed of treason by the British

Recent Examples of hotbed from the Web

And experts say Portland -- like other liberal hotbeds -- could see more conflict in the months to come.

— paul vercammen and holly yan, CNN, "Portland's liberal image tempered by history as 'Skinhead City'", 31 May 2017
The family had grown up in Sarasota, a baseball hotbed along the Florida coast.

— rustin dodd, kansascity, "Royals’ Eric Skoglund outduels Justin Verlander, wins 1-0 in major-league debut", 30 May 2017
South Florida has a national reputation for being a hotbed of football talent.

— emmett hall, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Coaches benefit from annual Dolphins clinic", 30 May 2017
On April 19, 1775, the first engagement of the war between the colonies and Britain erupted in Massachusetts, long a hotbed of rebellion, with the battles of Lexington and Concord.

— kurtis lee, The Seattle Times, "Memorial Day: The number of Americans who have died in battle since the Revolutionary War", 29 May 2017
That team, like this one, is based in a place hardly considered hockey hotbed a generation ago.

— Bloomberg.com, "Mystique Vs. Mayhem in Unlikely Stanley Cup Final", 28 May 2017
While cities in the United States — including Ann Arbor, Mich., and Las Vegas — have tested some of these mass transit driverless vehicles, Europe is a particular hotbed of this activity.

— mark scott, New York Times, "The Future of European Transit: Driverless and Utilitarian", 28 May 2017
Sprinting ahead: The Mid-Suburban League's reputation as a distance-running hotbed may be getting a makeover after MSL runners swept the Class 3A sprints.

— mike clark, chicagotribune.com, "Minooka's Soren Knudsen completes emotional distance triple crown", 27 May 2017
AGMA identified China as a hotbed for the origination of knockoffs, which range in quality from obviously inferior imitations to fakes that are hard to differentiate from the real thing.

— joanna glasner, WIRED, "Counterfeiters Love Electronics", 17 Aug. 2005

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hotbed'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.