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.
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
I long recognized that the RSF was a powder keg.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025
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.
