a powder keg

powder keg

A situation that could quickly become very volatile and dangerous. It became obvious we were sitting on a powder keg as the protests in the city became more frequent.
See also: keg, powder
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a powder keg

A powder keg is a very dangerous situation or place in which something very bad could happen at any time. His imprisonment is a political powder keg. The region has long been regarded as the powder keg of Europe. Note: You can say that someone is sitting on a powder keg if they are in a very dangerous situation. The Prime Minister was all too aware that he was sitting on a powder keg which could explode at any moment. Note: A powder keg was a small barrel which was used to store gunpowder.
See also: keg, powder
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • powder keg
  • sitting on a powder keg
  • be on the same wavelength
  • be on the same wavelength/on different wavelengths
  • a back-seat driver
  • backseat
  • backseat driver
  • driver
  • become unglued
  • become of (one)
References in periodicals archive
There needs to be a full review of what is going on and going wrong inside Carstairs and the demands for the government to get a grip cannot be ignored while staff are sitting on what could be a powder keg situation
Time to examine Carstairs chaos; RECORD View
The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania split off, as did Ukraine, which led to the modern confusion in today's eastern Ukraine and is a powder keg for peace in Europe.
Be careful with federalism
Some men think she's a monster, others a savior, but whatever side they take in a world without women, Dooling is transformed into a powder keg.
Sleeping Beauties
Dancing on a Powder Keg elucidates one Jewish woman's experience in Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust.
Dancing on a Powder Keg; The Intimate Voice of a Young Mother and Author, Her Letters Composed in The Lengthening Shadow of Hitler's Third Reich, Her Poems from the Theresienstadt Ghetto
"There are so many entrances that it's like a powder keg. The safety of supporters should come first.
'Cough up for extra coppers'
France has grown frustrated over the absence of movement toward a two-state solution since the collapse of the last round of talks in April 2014, arguing that letting the status quo prevail is like "waiting for a powder keg to explode".
Major powers meet to revive stalled Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking
Western leaders must accept that their ancestors' desire to create empires must be looked at and the larger ethnic groups in these artificial states must accept they are sitting on a powder keg.
Solving conflicts that prevent world peace; Views of Wales
It's a fact that the region is sitting on a powder keg, with rhetoric and polarization having reached levels not seen since the 1950s.
Diplomacy trumps all
ISLAMABAD -- The veteran Hurriyet leader, Syed Ali Gilani Monday said that India considers Jammu and Kashmir as a colony of imperial era and is pursuing a dangerous policy of converting the entire territory into a powder keg.
India pursuing dangerous policy on Kashmir: Gilani
Lebanon is undoubtedly sitting on a powder keg. Daesh only makes its moves (in the Middle East) in countries with a weak or no political system.
Beirut bombings
THE prison service is "a powder keg" and it's only a matter of time before staff are seriously hurt, an MP has warned.
MPs blast state of 'powder keg' prison service
An official quoted the report as saying the current situation in Pakistan is a powder keg that could ignite widespread polio transmission.
WHO meeting concludes Pak to be last place where polio will exist
The civilian side [of the drone industry] is a powder keg waiting to explode, and we're just waiting for the FAA to light the fuse." Thu, Apr 10, 2014 AirGuideBusiness ISSN 1939-666X
Aircraft News - North America
God knows, it's just a powder keg, isn't it?" Plaid Cymru had joined Labour, the Green party and the SNP in signing a Commons motion - due to be debated today - calling on the UK Government to take part in a UNHCR refugee programme.
UK will take some Syrian refugees
The days following the crime saw this city as a powder keg of possible major civil disorder.
Pub bomb fight cannot succeed