1
as in volcano
a potentially explosive place or situation
that troubled region remains one of the world's most dangerous flash points
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2
as in crisis
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
tensions between the two longtime adversaries were at a flash point
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flash point
Antarctica is another flash point.
—
Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 4 Mar. 2025
The report identified specific flash points, including cross-border water tensions, and said some countries could experience instability, including from straining food and energy systems.
—Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2025
The move comes after Republican officials ramped up efforts to turn the 2021 order into a partisan flash point ahead of the 2024 election.
—Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 20 Jan. 2025
The city has burned, after all, at various historical flash points — the Watts Riots, the 1992 Uprising, the sundry Malibu fires over the years — and the image has reinscribed itself upon us over and over, as in Ed Ruscha’s legendary 1968 painting The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire.
—Matthew Specktor, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flash point
Michael Albertus, Foreign Affairs, 4 Mar. 2025
The report identified specific flash points, including cross-border water tensions, and said some countries could experience instability, including from straining food and energy systems.
—Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 18 Feb. 2025
The move comes after Republican officials ramped up efforts to turn the 2021 order into a partisan flash point ahead of the 2024 election.
—Hansi Lo Wang, NPR, 20 Jan. 2025
The city has burned, after all, at various historical flash points — the Watts Riots, the 1992 Uprising, the sundry Malibu fires over the years — and the image has reinscribed itself upon us over and over, as in Ed Ruscha’s legendary 1968 painting The Los Angeles County Museum on Fire.
—Matthew Specktor, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flash point
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flash point
Noun
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Volcanic eruptions typically occur when magma below a volcano surges into subsurface pockets called magma chambers, then escapes to the surface through vents and fissures.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
5 May 2025
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The researchers compared the imaging of the interior of the volcano to methods used in medical imaging of the human body.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2025
Noun
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The combative atmosphere under the Trump administration has raised concerns among some legal experts of a potential constitutional crisis.—
USA Today,
USA Today,
3 May 2025
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Thirty-somethings have lived through two once-in-a-lifetime recessions, an unprecedented global pandemic, and several housing crises…and in spite of all that, leggings have prevailed.—
Kelsey Stiegman,
Glamour,
2 May 2025
Noun
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Sign up for Axios Future of Defense Sam Sabin Mar 14, 2025 - Technology Malware's AI time bomb Hackers already have the AI tools needed to create the adaptable, destructive malware that security experts fear.—
Sam Sabin,
Axios,
24 Mar. 2025
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Go deeper: Malware's AI time bomb Want more stories like this?—
Sam Sabin,
Axios,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Four years after the state’s Department of Justice entered into a settlement to improve conditions in L.A. County’s juvenile halls, frustrations are hitting a boiling point.—
James Queally,
Los Angeles Times,
1 May 2025
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Tensions reached a boiling point when Trump imposed a 50% tariff on Colombian exports after President Gustavo Petro refused to comply with U.S. demands to take deportees.—
Verónica Egui Brito,
Miami Herald,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Delimitros said one of the truck’s side view mirrors struck her in the head, causing minor injuries.—
David Hernandez,
sandiegouniontribune.com,
19 July 2017
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Cal Fire representatives said the current parking mess has already impacted them because the driveway to their station enters the highway not far from the trail head.—
J. Harry Jones,
Ramona Sentinel,
19 July 2017
Noun
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Daniel: That moment occurred on the eve of the American Revolution at a time when tensions between the colonists and the crown were at a breaking point.—
Ari Daniel,
Smithsonian Magazine,
17 Apr. 2025
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Magellan Limited/Atlantic Productions The Titanic Digital Twin shows the boilers in the hull at the breaking point of the ship.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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All four games in the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series between the Knicks (3) and Pistons (6) have been up in the air entering the fourth quarter, but playoff experience has made the difference in crunch time for the former.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Apr. 2025
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For two straight Aprils — since Landy’s been out of action, really — the Avs have looked soft in crunch time.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
12 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flash point.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flash%20point. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
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