sandpit
n.— «The men working for the security companies, while reluctant to talk in public, have their own online chat-rooms, where they exchange views on what they refer to as “the sandpit”—Iraq.» —“Iraq’s hired hands under fire as the pot of gold starts to run low” by Ewen MacAskill, Richard Norton-Taylor Guardian (United Kingdom) Sept. 22, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
In 1916, a small-town newspaper in Pennsylvania printed a fanciful item about a local gathering with a guest list that included, among others, Miss Ella Vader, Mr. Ray Zor, and other punny names. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
The painful condition called shingles takes its name from Latin cingulum, meaning belt, because the inflammation often appears as a belt-like band around the torso. The Latin root of cingulum, cingere, meaning to gird, is also the source of cinch, a...