time bomb

noun

Definition of time bomb

1 : a bomb so made as to explode at a predetermined time

2 : something with a potentially dangerous or detrimental delayed reaction

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Examples of time bomb in a Sentence

He's a time bomb getting ready to explode. If we don't do something about the pollution problem, we'll be sitting on a ticking time bomb.

Recent Examples on the Web

Increased blood pressure from a strenuous activity like working out—or even orgasm—can cause that quietly ticking time bomb to explode. — Macaela Mackenzie, Glamour, "Emilia Clarke's Aneurysms Almost Killed Her—Women Need to Know the Risks," 22 Mar. 2019 For all of his seeming good-naturedness, Bernard, like the other hosts, is a ticking time bomb, ready to snap at Robert’s predetermined choosing. — William Lee, chicagotribune.com, "‘Westworld’ Episode 4 recap: 5 things to know about ‘The Riddle of the Sphinx’," 14 May 2018 According to Jansen, the report calls these children ticking time bombs. — Fox News, "Germany's Salafist Muslim children being radicalized faster and younger: intelligence report," 24 Aug. 2018 Philadelphia faces an unprecedented crisis, a time bomb ticking away in our schools. — Katrina Clark, Philly.com, "There is money to fix our schools. Here is where to find it | Opinion," 17 May 2018 Looking at stats on home value and household wealth suggest a bit of a demographic time bomb. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Senior housing: Older Americans face affordability, accessibility challenges," 14 Nov. 2018 There’s a car chase, ticking time bombs, a lady love interest (the only one in the series), and enough revenge schemes to fuel a whole season of television. — Steven Strom, Ars Technica, "Review: Yakuza Kiwami 2 gets cleaned up for PS4," 28 Aug. 2018 Giuliani's attempt to defuse a ticking time bomb exposed Trump's failure to divulge the full story about the Daniels hush money and highlighted contradictory public statements from him and White House spokesmen. — chicagotribune.com, "'I was going to get this over with': Inside Rudy Giuliani's explosive Stormy Daniels revelation," 3 May 2018 California fault line is 'tectonic time bomb' for disastrous earthquake, researchers say. — Fox News, "FOX NEWS FIRST: Intense manhunt in Waffle House shooting; Trump to play hardball with North Korea," 23 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'time bomb.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Apr 2019

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Time Traveler for time bomb

The first known use of time bomb was in 1893

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More Definitions for time bomb

time bomb

noun

English Language Learners Definition of time bomb

: a bomb that is set to explode at a particular moment

: a person or situation that will probably become dangerous or harmful in the future

See the full definition for time bomb in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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