time bomb

as in volcano
a potentially explosive place or situation the region's political instability has turned it into a ticking time bomb

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 time bomb The insurance and housing sectors are scrambling to try to get ahead of this ticking time bomb. Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2025 The plan before the PUC was first proposed last year and has been criticized as bloated and a looming fiscal time bomb for ratepayers. Judith Kohler, Denver Post, 22 Aug. 2025 The secret of Dale’s bisexuality looms like a ticking time bomb when a local gossip writer gets wind of the information. Nina Metz, Chicago Tribune, 13 Aug. 2025 But state officials knew those ARPA dollars would be exhausted by 2026 and that using them to cover recurring expenses was a ticking fiscal time bomb, a huge hole that eventually would have to be filled some other way. Keith M. Phaneuf, Hartford Courant, 2 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for time bomb
Recent Examples of Synonyms for time bomb
volcano
Noun
  • Some scholars countered that Venusian volcanoes could have produced phosphine; others said that the measurements were dubious, and the mystery gas wasn’t phosphine.
    David W. Brown, New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2025
  • The other ride is a cross between a roller coaster and a simulator which shoots out of the side of the volcano reflecting the story of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.
    Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Time bomb.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/time%20bomb. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.

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