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
Iunius	-	Ancient Roman
'Ofrah	-	Biblical Hebrew
Ruprecht	-	German (Archaic)
Draven	DRAY-ven	Popular Culture
NoÉ	no-E (French, Spanish)	French, Spanish, Portuguese
YalÇIn	-	Turkish