third rail

noun

Definition of third railnext
as in hot button

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of third rail The substations’ main function is to convert raw, high-voltage electricity from the electrical grid into lower-voltage power that can be delivered to the third rail. — New York Times, 20 Apr. 2026 In early February, a Chow Chow named Meatball broke free from his owner at Bowling Green, fell onto the subway tracks, hit the third rail, and died. — Rachel Sugar, Curbed, 8 Apr. 2026 Someone needs to touch the third rail. — Dp Opinion, Denver Post, 23 Mar. 2026 Dog Day Afternoon is the third rail of male love and loneliness—a primal scream from the sweltering streets of a stone broke New York City. — Jenny Lumet, Vanity Fair, 10 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for third rail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for third rail
  1. hot button
  2. time bomb
  3. powder keg
  4. flash point
Noun
  • Harrington’s first comments as mayor stayed light and forward-looking without delving into the city’s hot button issues.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 1 July 2026
  • The case became a hot button issue at the time amid a rash of disappearances and murders of Black women and girls in the Midwest state.
    — Michael Loria, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Definition of hot button
Noun
  • The sobering Social Security and Medicare reports clearly show that a fiscal time bomb is ticking.
    — Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 11 June 2026
  • That is a real fiscal time bomb that could set off generational warfare in Washington.
    — Editorial, Boston Herald, 24 May 2026
Definition of time bomb
Noun
  • After all, his previous four seasons spent coaching the Trojans had been nothing short of a powder keg, filled with ups and downs, as well as a constant undercurrent of tension and uncertainty.
    — Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026
  • More recently, Washington backed Albania’s entry into NATO, in 2009, and has upheld its security in a historically volatile region that’s sometimes called the powder keg of Europe.
    — Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 23 July 2026
Definition of powder keg
Noun
  • Kashmir remains one of the world’s most contentious geopolitical flash points.
    — Peter Dziedzic, The Conversation, 30 July 2026
  • The legendary talk show vet takes EW inside the pop cultural flash point that was his and wife Connie Chung’s attempts in the early 1990s to have a child.
    — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026
Definition of flash point

Browse Nearby Words

thin-skinned
third rail
third rails
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Third rail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/third%20rail. Accessed 2 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on third rail

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about third rail

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