hotbed : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: hotbed	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for hotbed
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
hotbed n a situation that is ideal for rapid development (especially of something bad); "it was a hotbed of vice" a bed of earth covered with glass and heated by rotting manure to promote the growth of plants
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Hotbed \Hot"bed`\, n. 1. (Gardening) A bed of earth heated by fermenting manure or other substances, and covered with glass, intended for raising early plants, or for nourishing exotics. 2. A place which favors rapid growth or development; as, a hotbed of sedition.