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
Synonyms
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 on the Web
With that level of visibility is bound to come controversy, and like Overwatch before it, Marvel Rivals has become a hotbed for the modding community that’s taking off in unnerving ways.
—
Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2025
Zoom in: Pinal County, once wholly reliant on agriculture and mining, has become a hotbed of industrial development, with manufacturers like Lucid Motors and Nikola Corp. moving operations there in the past few years.
—Jessica Boehm, Axios, 9 Jan. 2025
Police padlocked the Star Market in June as prosecutors alleged that the Buchanan Street market was a hotbed of crime, fighting and drug dealing.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
Travis Scott & Playboi Carti In the 2010s, Atlanta became a hotbed for building hits out of words and phrases that could be melodically or percussively stretched into infinite shapes.
—Stephen Kearse, TIME, 9 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hotbed 
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Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 9 Jan. 2025
Zoom in: Pinal County, once wholly reliant on agriculture and mining, has become a hotbed of industrial development, with manufacturers like Lucid Motors and Nikola Corp. moving operations there in the past few years.
—Jessica Boehm, Axios, 9 Jan. 2025
Police padlocked the Star Market in June as prosecutors alleged that the Buchanan Street market was a hotbed of crime, fighting and drug dealing.
—Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
Travis Scott & Playboi Carti In the 2010s, Atlanta became a hotbed for building hits out of words and phrases that could be melodically or percussively stretched into infinite shapes.
—Stephen Kearse, TIME, 9 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hotbed
Dictionary Entries Near hotbed
Cite this Entry
“Hotbed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hotbed. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
hotbed
noun
hot·bed
ˈhät-ˌbed 
1
: a heated bed of soil enclosed in glass and used for growing seedlings
2
: an environment that favors rapid growth or development
a hotbed of innovation
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