1
as in volcano
a potentially explosive place or situation
that troubled region remains one of the world's most dangerous flash points
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2
as in crisis
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
tensions between the two longtime adversaries were at a flash point
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flash point
The issue has become a flash point for Republicans to signal their stance on immigration.
—
Max Rego, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
Rhetoric about Taiwan, the most prominent flash point for Chinese sovereignty, is an example of the historical origins of the issue.
—David C. Kang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2025
Yet with each subsequent racial flash point, from the arrest of Henry Louis Gates in 2009 to the murder of George Floyd, calls resurfaced for the national conversation.
—Lee Bebout, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
Early on, Feld became Chicago’s most divisive restaurant, a flash point for critics of highfalutin many-course tasting menus.
—The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flash point
Max Rego, The Hill, 23 Sep. 2025
Rhetoric about Taiwan, the most prominent flash point for Chinese sovereignty, is an example of the historical origins of the issue.
—David C. Kang, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2025
Yet with each subsequent racial flash point, from the arrest of Henry Louis Gates in 2009 to the murder of George Floyd, calls resurfaced for the national conversation.
—Lee Bebout, The Conversation, 16 Sep. 2025
Early on, Feld became Chicago’s most divisive restaurant, a flash point for critics of highfalutin many-course tasting menus.
—The Bon Appétit Staff, Bon Appetit Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flash point
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flash point
Noun
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The island has been troubled by ash falls and lava flows since 1995, when the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted for the first time in hundreds of years.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
-
Italy’s Campi Flegrei volcano is depicted in Greek and Roman mythology as the entrance to the underworld.—
NPR,
NPR,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The revelation immediately erupted into a political crisis, with the head of prisons dismissed and Guatemalans threatening to protest.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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By August, Ars reported on cases where ChatGPT's sycophantic behavior had validated users' false beliefs to the point of causing mental health crises, and news of the aforementioned suicide lawsuit hit not long after.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Ray’s most chaotic photograms—jumbles that push out of the frame or look like time bombs ready to explode—find echoes in his films, projected on the back walls, a show in themselves.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
3 Oct. 2025
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Ignoring deforestation is a ticking time bomb for coffee companies, which stand to see production decrease and prices increase in an increasingly hot and dry world.—
Marianne Krasny,
Forbes.com,
16 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Tensions between Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and the Navajo Nation Council are reaching a boiling point after Nygren appointed an interim Controller — twice — to replace the one who resigned.—
Arlyssa D. Becenti,
AZCentral.com,
10 Oct. 2025
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Thermodynamics drives selective recovery The researchers hypothesized that FJH combined with chlorine gas could exploit differences in Gibbs free energy and boiling points to selectively remove non-REE elements from magnet waste.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Keith Pelley has had four months now to get a closer glimpse of the day-to-day operations of the Toronto Maple Leafs via close interactions with general manager Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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But Netflix head Bela Bajaria didn’t seem into it.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
16 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Snell was able to build a brilliant performance in part because the Dodgers ground the hard-throwing Greene to his breaking point.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
1 Oct. 2025
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That’s almost the scale of electricity that Sam Altman and his partners say will be devoured by their next wave of AI data centers—a single corporate project consuming more power, every single day, than two American cities pushed to their breaking point.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Vance Joseph relied heavily on simulated pressures against Philadelphia and then did away with any simulation in crunch time against New York.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
13 Oct. 2025
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Lindsey showed the last element in crunch time Saturday, trailing 28-24 with six minutes left in the fourth quarter.—
Andy Greder,
Twin Cities,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flash point.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flash%20point. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.
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