hornet's nest /ˌhɔː.nɪts ˈnest/ a very difficult or unpleasant situation, especially in which a lot of people get very angry and complain (尤指引起公愤的)麻烦，困境 stir up 激起;煽动;搅拌;唤起 stir up a hornet's nest 捅马蜂窝 Why are you trying to stir up a hornet's nest? 你为什么要去捅马蜂窝呢? His remarks about the lack of good women tennis players stirred up a (real) hornet's nest. 他那番关于缺少优秀女子网球选手的言论可真是捅了马蜂窝。