powder barrel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But ... the mere mention of the strategic question worked like a spark in a powder barrel.
From Time Magazine Archive
He fell in love with the wife of one of Napoleon's leading officials, imagined that that old black magic was enchanting his inamorata, that "she looked at me as though I were a powder barrel."
From Time Magazine Archive
It was before Billy Topsail, a lad of wits, had held a candle over the powder barrel, when the wreckers boarded the Spot Cash.
From Billy Topsail & Company A Story for Boys by Duncan, Norman
The Gunner was squatting in a powder barrel, a lighted purser's glim between his teeth, and a pistol in one hand.
From The Gentleman A Romance of the Sea by Ollivant, Alfred
In reality, however, our conflict with Servia was not the cause of the great war now raging, but only the spark which brought the overloaded powder barrel to explosion.
From The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. 1, January 9, 1915 What Americans Say to Europe by Various
