Meaning & use
lion's den
Last updated
Meanings
nounsingularfigurative
A dangerous or hostile place or situation that someone enters bravely or foolishly.
Grammar: Used with "the" and often with "into": walk into the lion's den.
Patterns
- into the lion's den
- walk into the lion's den
She walked into the lion's den by attending the meeting alone.
Going to ask your boss for a raise is like stepping into the lion's den.
He felt he was entering the lion's den when he faced the angry crowd.
nouncountable
The resting place or shelter of a lion.
Grammar: Refers to the actual animal's home; plural: lion's dens.
Patterns
- a lion's den
The zookeeper cleaned the lion's den early in the morning.
We saw a lion's den hidden among the rocks.
Word forms
| plural | lion's dens |
|---|
Common combinations
- into the lion's den
- She went into the lion's den to negotiate.
- walk into the lion's den
- He walked into the lion's den without any backup.
- throw someone to the lions
- The manager threw the new employee to the lions.
Synonyms and how they differ
- danger zone
- More literal and neutral; lion's den is a vivid idiom suggesting a hostile or intimidating place.
Opposites
Practice
Complete the sentence: She felt like she was walking into the ______ when she entered the rival company's office.
Choose one answer.
The correct idiom is "lion's den" with an apostrophe before the s. "Lions den" is missing the apostrophe and is not standard; "lion den" is not the idiomatic phrase; "lions' den" would mean a den belonging to multiple lions, but the idiom uses singular.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lion's den”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.