time bomb
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A bomb with a timed detonator: A physical explosive device designed to explode at a specific, pre-set time.
- A hidden future danger: A problematic situation that is expected to become very dangerous or cause a crisis if not addressed.
Usage and Examples
Literal meaning (explosive device):
- The police safely defused the time bomb found in the station.
- Constructing a reliable time bomb requires precise engineering.
Figurative meaning (dangerous situation):
- The country's massive debt is a ticking time bomb for its economy.
- Unresolved social inequality can act as a political time bomb.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
- "Ticking time bomb": A common intensifier emphasizing that the dangerous situation is actively progressing toward explosion or crisis.
- The aging nuclear power plant is a ticking time bomb.
- The figurative usage often implies a sense of inevitability and urgency, suggesting that an explosion (crisis) is only a matter of time.
Variants and Related Words
- Time-bomb (hyphenated spelling): An accepted alternative spelling of the noun.
- Time-fuse (n): The component of a bomb that controls the timing of the explosion.
Synonyms
- Literal: delayed-action bomb, infernal machine.
- Figurative: looming crisis, impending disaster, powder keg.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- "A bomb waiting to go off": A near-synonymous phrase for the figurative meaning, emphasizing imminent danger.
- The tense standoff between the two nations is a bomb waiting to go off.
- "Sitting on a time bomb": Describes being in a situation full of latent, explosive danger.
- With public trust eroding, the government is sitting on a time bomb.
Noun
- a bomb that has a detonating mechanism that can be set to go off at a particular time
- a problematic situation that will eventually become dangerous if not addressed
- India is a demographic time bomb
- the refugee camp is a ticking bomb waiting to go off