cauldron

noun

1. A large bowl-shaped pot used for boiling over an open flame.

   “Double, double, toile and trouble; / Fire burne, and Cauldron bubble.”

   “[…] I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses … […]”

   “Large cauldrons are a little tricky to locate, but are well worth the search if you have a place to safely store and use one.”

2. A type of encirclement.

   “Near-synonym: kettle”

   “After having defended the constantly shrinking perimeter of their position for over two weeks, the encircled German units in the Cherkassy “cauldron” were ordered to break out.”

   “The cauldron had been formed, and some 2,000 Soviets had been encircled in it; the division estimated this quite a success.”

   “This could have been avoided had the Ukrainian Army either evacuated the troops in the southern cauldron once it became clear that their position was untenable or reinforced them substantially in order to reopen supply lines.”

3. (figuratively)An unsettled or difficult situation or place.

   “Near-synonyms: kettle, pickle; see also Thesaurus:difficult situation”

   “a cauldron of discontent”

   “With Old Trafford a cauldron of noise, Kobbie Mainoo somehow kept his cool to curl an equaliser into the corner of the Lyon goal as the tie entered its final minute.”