rat's nest

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

rat's nest

noun rat's nests

idiomatic Something that is excessively complicated, entangled, or disorderly (either physically or metaphorically). rat's nest of a wiring harness
Similar: mare's nest
idiomatic A software or hardware system whose design lacks organized structure, making it difficult to understand and maintain. Many CPU silicon designers in the 1990s complained bitterly about the rat's nest in the center of SPARC chips.
Similar: mare's nest

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"rat's nest." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rat's%20nest. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rat's nest. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rat's%20nest

Chicago

"rat's nest." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rat's%20nest.

BibTeX

@misc{rat_s_nest_2026,
  title = {rat's nest},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rat's%20nest},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}