time bomb

noun

1
: a bomb so made as to explode at a predetermined time
2
: something with a potentially dangerous or detrimental delayed reaction

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 That compares with a fertility rate of 1.8 in neighboring France where President Emmanuel Macron recently fretted that the country needs to take action against a demographic time bomb. Alessandra Migliaccio, Fortune Europe, 11 Mar. 2024 The government’s efforts to address this demographic time bomb are becoming more and more absurd. Andrei Kolesnikov, Foreign Affairs, 7 Mar. 2024 Advertisement The headline on my inaugural Golden State column asked whether our aging population was an opportunity or a ticking time bomb. Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2023 The reality organizations face is like a ticking time bomb: as cybercriminals grow more sophisticated, the frequency and severity of attacks escalate, leaving a deeper impact than ever before. James Hadley, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 There's a ticking time bomb hanging over Nathan Brown's head. Samantha Highfill, EW.com, 14 Sep. 2023 The data underscores the demographic time bomb that South Korea and other East Asian nations are facing as their societies rapidly age just a few decades after their dramatic industrialization. Gawon Bae, CNN, 6 Feb. 2024 Relying on a single drive, HDD or SSD, as your sole source of data storage is a ticking time bomb. Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 3 Aug. 2023 Lurking at the bottom of the ocean is a ticking time bomb of potential climate disaster. Devika Rao, theweek, 1 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'time bomb.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1893, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of time bomb was in 1893

Dictionary Entries Near time bomb

Cite this Entry

“Time bomb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20bomb. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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