snake pit

snake pit
    n 1: any place of pain and turmoil; "the hell of battle"; "the
         inferno of the engine room"; "when you're alone Christmas
         is the pits"; [syn: {hell}, {hell on earth}, {hellhole},
         {snake pit}, {the pits}, {inferno}]
    2: pejorative terms for an insane asylum [syn: {Bedlam}, {booby
       hatch}, {crazy house}, {cuckoo's nest}, {funny farm}, {funny
       house}, {loony bin}, {madhouse}, {nut house}, {nuthouse},
       {sanatorium}, {snake pit}]
    

21 Moby Thesaurus words for "snake pit":
      Chinese puzzle, Gordian knot, Rube Goldberg contraption,
      can of worms, complex, jungle, knot, labyrinth, maze, meander,
      mesh, mess, perplex, ravel, snafu, snarl, tangle, tangled skein,
      webwork, wheels within wheels, wilderness