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Recent Examples of third rail
An equipment problem Wednesday morning that curtailed power to BART’s electric third rail caused the closure of a portion of one of its travel lines for about 95 minutes, officials said.
—
Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Moving through the pandemic, higher ed touched the third rail (online teaching and learning) and surprisingly came away uninjured.
—David Rosowsky, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
The Hyundai was lodged in the westbound trackway, and there was visible damage to the track and the electric third rail.
—Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2025
Three, the third rail of immigration keeps closing in.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for third rail
Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 14 Jan. 2026
Moving through the pandemic, higher ed touched the third rail (online teaching and learning) and surprisingly came away uninjured.
—David Rosowsky, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026
The Hyundai was lodged in the westbound trackway, and there was visible damage to the track and the electric third rail.
—Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 16 Dec. 2025
Three, the third rail of immigration keeps closing in.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 10 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for third rail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for third rail
Noun
-
The issue of private equity investment in health care facilities has been a hot button topic in Connecticut recently.—
Jenna Carlesso,
Hartford Courant,
28 Feb. 2026
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Missing from the speech were several hot button issues that have consumed his administration’s HHS over the last few months, including shifting vaccine mandates and major cuts to health and science funding.—
Theresa Gaffney,
STAT,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Furthermore, the failure to understand how dark-side behaviors undermine psychological safety and collective judgment in day-to-day decision-making contributes to the ticking time bomb problem noted earlier.—
Mary Crossan,
Forbes.com,
21 Jan. 2026
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And as the population continues to age, hundreds of millions could soon be leaving the workforce — a demographic crisis and ticking time bomb in one.—
Victor Tangermann,
Futurism,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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There are several other emotional powder kegs that need one little spark, and those babies are going all the way off.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
-
This lack of accountability creates a powder keg.—
Joshua Simmons,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
How immigration enforcement unfolded in Minnesota Minnesota became a global flash point of tensions over arrests and deportations.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Feb. 2026
-
Tipping remains a flash point for many.—
Eric Thomas,
Sun Sentinel,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Third rail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/third%20rail. Accessed 2 Mar. 2026.
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