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View synonyms for sitting on a powder keg

sitting on a powder keg



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Idioms and Phrases

In imminent danger, in an explosive situation, as in Our office is sitting on a powder keg while management decides whether or not to close us down . This metaphoric term alludes to sitting on a keg of gunpowder that could go off at any moment. [First half of 1900s]
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Example Sentences

"It's like we're sitting on a powder keg."

From BBC

"Of course, we are worried. ... It's like sitting on a powder keg," said Enerhodar resident Alexander Lifirenko.

From Reuters

“We are sitting on a powder keg,” he said.

“We’re sitting on a powder keg.”

When you interviewed him before prison, you know, you would have no idea that he was sitting on a powder keg of lies.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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