time bomb

a (ticking) time bomb

A person, thing, or situation that can at any moment cause much havoc or result in a disastrous outcome. I'm telling you, this dirty money we're using to finance the campaign is a ticking time bomb! If anyone were to investigate how we got it, we'd all go to jail! Jenny's attracted to men who exude an air of danger, and her new boyfriend seems like a time bomb.
See also: bomb, time
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

time bomb

A situation that threatens to have disastrous consequences at some future time, as in That departmental dispute is a time bomb just waiting to go off. This term alludes to an explosive device that is set to go off at a specific time. [First half of 1900s]
See also: bomb, time
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • a (ticking) time bomb
  • wreak havoc
  • play havoc
  • play havoc with
  • play havoc with (someone or something)
  • play/wreak havoc with something
  • wreak
  • wreak havoc with (someone or something)
  • shitshow
  • a match made in hell
References in periodicals archive
Time Bomb Blast to the Past Dermabrasion gently removes dry, dull skin to show a youthful surface underneath.
Lulu shares her secrets for looking good at 62; Pop icon Lulu was in the region this week to promote her beauty range. LIZ LAMB caught up with her to find out her secret to looking good in her 60s
RETURN Lulu promoting her beauty range, Time Bomb, at Fenwick, Newcastle
Pop diva is back in Toon
The settlement "constitutes a time bomb that could destroy everything we have accomplished on the road to peace at any moment," he stressed.
Settlements are "time bomb", says Abbas
"There's a ticking time bomb in the community and the issue of future provision for sufferers and carers is not being addressed," said Mr Billingham.
Dementia talk for home carers
He described Lebanon's prisons as a "time bomb" waiting to explode and called for immediate attention by the authorities to this matter.
Lebanon-prisons
Carolyn Maloney said at a hearing that the "time bomb is ticking" for commercial real estate.
Lawmakers worried about commercial real estate industry
An unknown group telephoned bus owner Ram Shankar Mishra and told him that the time bomb was kept inside the bus.
Bomb spreads panic
Top 10 Ways to Defuse Your Congregational Time Bomb
Top 10 Ways to Defuse Your Congregational Time Bomb
Pesticide exposure has long been a danger and studies have documented dangers to all levels of society, but what makes Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in Our Midst so important for any college-level collection strong in health, safety, and agriculture as well as social issues is its comprehensive examination of pesticide use, its effects, and alternatives to pesticides.
Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in Our Midst
And it's only slightly more farfetched than the more familiar ticking time bomb scenario, in which you must torture the suspect to save all those innocent people.
Ticking bombast: what would you do to save millions of lives?
"Unless most member states do something serious about defusing the pension time bomb, it will go off in the hands of our children and grandchildren.
Quote/unquote
McCoy's insightful and nuanced article, "The Myth of the Ticking Time Bomb" (October issue).
Ticking ethics
"It's a [climate] time bomb waiting to go off," she says.
On the rise: Siberian lakes: major sources of methane
A report by the union organisation warned yesterday that industry and the Government had to defuse the" demographic time bomb" of an ageing workforce being forced out of jobs and on to benefits.
Study says a million old people can't get work because of a lack of training