Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun time_bomb

2 senses of time bomb

Sense 1
time bomb, ticking bomb -- (a problematic situation that will eventually become dangerous if not addressed; "India is a demographic time bomb"; "the refugee camp is a ticking bomb waiting to go off")
       => situation -- (a complex or critical or unusual difficulty; "the dangerous situation developed suddenly"; "that's quite a situation"; "no human situation is simple")

Sense 2
time bomb, infernal machine -- (a bomb that has a detonating mechanism that can be set to go off at a particular time)
       => bomb -- (an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions)