flash point

noun

1

: the lowest temperature at which vapors above a volatile combustible substance ignite in air when exposed to flame

2

: a point at which someone or something bursts suddenly into action or being

3

: tinderbox sense 2

Synonyms

• powder keg
• time bomb
• tinderbox
• volcano

Examples of flash point in a Sentence

The city became a flash point as political tensions grew.

The situation reached a flash point when union leaders urged the workers to protest.

Recent Examples on the Web

Grant was unarmed, and that incident, which a number of people recorded on their cellphones, became a political flash point. —Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025

The case of Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man from El Salvador, has become a flash point in Trump’s deportation efforts. —Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 21 Apr. 2025

If Zelensky should never have allowed the war to happen, then who is responsible for turning Taiwan into one of the world's most dangerous flash points? —Matt Robison, Newsweek, 18 Feb. 2025

Gabbard’s 2017 visit with Assad was another flash point. —David Klepper, Los Angeles Times, 12 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1878, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for flash point

• adjoint
• anoint
• appoint
• checkpoint
• conjoint
• disjoint
• endpoint
• gunpoint
• midpoint
• nonpoint
• pinpoint
• standpoint