as in volcano
a potentially explosive place or situation
the region's political instability has turned it into a ticking time bomb
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Examples of time bomb in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Amid all the Niners’ terrible special teams play, this is a ticking time bomb.
—
Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2024
Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal community in the Los Angeles area, could be described as a geological ticking time bomb.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 4 Sep. 2024
California ‘Tectonic time bomb:’ Mapping where massive California earthquakes cause the most shaking, destruction
Dec. 17, 2019
Certainly, there have been a few earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater in the last three decades that brought damage to California.
—Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2024
The Juba government sits precariously on an economic time bomb, which will explode in slow motion over the remainder of this year.
—Andrew Natsios, Foreign Affairs, 9 July 2015
See all Example Sentences for time bomb 
Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2024
Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal community in the Los Angeles area, could be described as a geological ticking time bomb.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 4 Sep. 2024
California ‘Tectonic time bomb:’ Mapping where massive California earthquakes cause the most shaking, destruction
Dec. 17, 2019
Certainly, there have been a few earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater in the last three decades that brought damage to California.
—Rong-Gong Lin Ii, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2024
The Juba government sits precariously on an economic time bomb, which will explode in slow motion over the remainder of this year.
—Andrew Natsios, Foreign Affairs, 9 July 2015
See all Example Sentences for time bomb
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.
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“Time bomb.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/time%20bomb. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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