powder keg
Americannoun
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a small, metal, barrellike container for gunpowder or blasting powder.
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a potentially dangerous situation, especially one involving violent repercussions.
noun
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a small barrel used to hold gunpowder
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informal a potential source or scene of violence, disaster, etc
Etymology
Origin of powder keg
First recorded in 1850–55
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This in exchange for quickly ignored sanctions, making Iran the powder keg that it was before Feb. 28.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026
It was a powder keg waiting to blow.
From Barron's ● Mar. 5, 2026
On Monday morning, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described the situation as a "powder keg".
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026
Dahlia Lithwick: I find the public-facing discourse around shootings to be impoverished, dangerous, and a powder keg on its own terms.
From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025
The federalist fervor, which the exiles had pictured as a powder keg about to explode, had dissolved into a vague electoral illusion.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
