witches' brew

noun

1. a potent magical concoction supposedly prepared by witches.
2. a harmful or threatening mixture; diabolical concoction:

   a witches' brew of innuendo and rumor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of witches' brew¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

The "witches' brew," as the report calls it, flowing out of these refineries poses a real threat to aquatic life and communities.

From Salon

Male anxiety and overcompensation have further befouled this witches' brew.

From Salon

"It's a witches' brew of different factors to consider when you're trying to estimate herd immunity at this point," said Michaud.

From Salon

The witches' brew from Shakespeare's "Macbeth" even cited "slips of yew, silvered in the moon's eclipse" as a main ingredient.

From Salon

Not content with that, Prof Poliakoff and Mr Barnes then placed a second new fiver in a beaker and filled it with "fuming nitric acid" - a "witches' brew" of nitric acid plus dinitrogen tetroxide.

From BBC