time bomb

English Thesaurus

1. a bomb that has a detonating mechanism that can be set to go off at a particular time (noun.artifact)

hypernym	:	bomb,
definition	:	an explosive device fused to explode under specific conditions (noun.artifact)

2. a problematic situation that will eventually become dangerous if not addressed (noun.state)

hypernym	:	situation,
definition	:	a complex or critical or unusual difficulty (noun.state)