snake pit

noun

1
dated : a hospital for the mentally ill
2
: a place or state of chaotic disorder and distress

Examples of snake pit in a Sentence

finally managed to crawl out of the snake pit of her drug addiction
Recent Examples on the Web By imagining a snake pit of twisting, interlocking, hollow metal tubes. Erica Huang, Scientific American, 1 Feb. 2024 At its worst, the comment section could be a bit of an echo chamber nestled inside a snake pit. Erin Gloria Ryan, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023 Her first snake pit venture came when the Sweetwater Jaycees visited Austin in February to promote their annual West Texas rattlesnake roundup. Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 30 June 2023 Ragnar welcomes death in a snake pit. BostonGlobe.com, 27 Aug. 2021 Places like this have become a snake pit. BostonGlobe.com, 17 Sep. 2022 Still a snake pit? Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz India, 13 Aug. 2020 Perks for the in-the-flesh audience include being able to take in all of Stephanie Osin Cohen’s beautiful stage picture, a Boschian profusion of industrial lights and set pieces and rolling cameras tied together by a snake pit of cables. Helen Shaw, Vulture, 15 June 2022 But for now, the ecological splendor of Florida’s humongous snake pit is left literally in the hands of the individual brave women and men who try to haul them down one snake a time. Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'snake pit.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1946, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of snake pit was in 1946

Dictionary Entries Near snake pit

Cite this Entry

“Snake pit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/snake%20pit. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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