witches' brew

English

Alternative forms

• witch's brew (singular versus plural but homophonous)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɪtʃɪzˌbɹuː/, /ˌwɪtʃɪzˈbɹuː/
• Homophone: witch's brew

Noun

witches' brew (plural witches' brews)

1. A strange, powerful, terrifying or dangerous concoction of ingredients.
   • 2010, Gus Martin, Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues, SAGE, →ISBN, page 22:

     In turn, the nitro-glycerin ignited cardboard boxes containing a witches' brew of urea pellets and sulphuric acid.22 According to investigators and other officials, Yousef's objective was to topple Tower One onto Tower Two […]

   • 2019 December 13, Michael Davis, The Music of Reason: Rousseau, Nietzsche, Plato, University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, page 83:

     The non-Greek festivals are characterized by a sexual license that engulfs the family and […] so leads to incest and a “witches' brew” of salaciousness and cruelty.