tinderbox

1 a potentially explosive place or situation the city has been a tinderbox ever since racial profiling became an issue Synonyms flash point, powder keg, time bomb, volcano Related Words hot button, third rail

2 a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action while the country's prime minister was meeting with the U.S president, a political tinderbox was igniting at home Synonyms boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crisis, crossroad(s), crunch, crunch time, Dunkirk, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, emergency, zero hourRelated Words contingency, possibility; climax, turning point; happening, landmark, milestone; condition, pass, situation, strait; deadlock, impasse, stalemate; corner, fix, hole, hot water, jam, last ditch, pinch, predicament, scrape, spot; eleventh hour, last minute