powder keg

1. 1.

   a potentially explosive state

   Broaderdanger
2. 2.

   keg (usually made of metal) for gunpowder or blasting powder

   Broaderkeg

Questions about powder keg

What does powder keg mean?

powder keg means "a potentially explosive state". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

Is powder keg a common word?

powder keg is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.