a powder keg

a situation that could suddenly become extremely dangerous

Usage notes: A powder keg was a wooden container for gunpowder (= a substance used for making explosions).

We left just before the revolution, realizing that we were sitting on a powder keg.

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Pa	-	Hmong
Angelina	ahn-je-LEE-nah (Italian), an-jə-LEEN-ə (English), ahn-GYE-lee-nah (Russian), ahn-gye-LEE-nah (Russian), ahn-gee-LEE-nah (Russian), ahn-ge-LEE-nah (Polish)	Italian, English, Russian, German, Dutch, Polish, Spanish, Macedonian
Pratik	-	Indian, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali
Kristal	KRIS-təl	English
Hannah	HAN-ə (English), HAH-nah (German)	English, Hebrew, French, German, Dutch, Swedish, Biblical
Carlito	kahr-LEE-to (Spanish)	Spanish, Portuguese