Definition

1. 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

1. a bomb that has a detonating mechanism that can be set to go off at a particular time
2. 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