ticking bomb
3
5.2
- noun
- /ˈtɪkɪŋ bɑm/
- Informal
:
bomba de tiempo
- The plan was comparatively reasonable, but included a ticking bomb.
But is it going to be an African future where you have a youth being a ticking bomb because they have not, you know, there's no hope.
- But is it going to be an African future where you have a youth being a ticking bomb because they have not, you know, there's no hope.
Examples
-
The political unrest in the country is a ticking bomb that could lead to violence if not addressed soon.
-
It's like sitting on a ticking bomb, always trying to jump and play around it.
Blog text (10) -
Couple that with rapid international travel, and you have a ticking bomb.
Blog text (8) -
All these drugs are a ticking bomb on the one hand and a monopolist's wet dream on the other.
Blog text (11) -
So I'm going to tiptoe away from that ticking bomb...
Blog text (16) -
And number four, we do it when we believe that there is no way we can delay or postpone this operation, something that we consider a ticking bomb.
Academic text (2008) -
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman justified the attack, calling al-Qaisi "a ticking bomb."
Blog text (22) -
Budget cuts in the education sector have created a ticking bomb that threatens the future of our children.
-
Without intervention, the escalating tensions between the neighboring countries could result in a ticking bomb situation.
Synonyms
26
4.6
A problem that will become dangerous in the future if not fixed
4
4.3
A situation very likely to cause serious trouble
Antonyms
How Urgent
- Informal
3
5.2
∞
3.1
41
3.0
∞
1.2
906
1.7
6
3.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase evokes a literal bomb that is 'ticking' and thus about to explode, so a learner who knows 'ticking' (a repetitive clock sound) and 'bomb' (an explosive device) can plausibly infer a metaphorical sense of imminent danger or crisis. However, the meaning requires a metaphorical mapping from a literal explosive device to an abstract situation, so it is not purely compositional in the way simple verb+particle phrases are. This kind of time‑bomb metaphor is common across languages, which aids inferability but still leaves the item only partially transparent.
Etymology
Ticking bomb comes from the image of a real bomb with a ticking timer counting down before it explodes. So calling a problem a ticking bomb means it is a hidden danger that is 'likely to become dangerous or serious soon' if not dealt with.