flash point
noun
1
: the lowest temperature at which vapors above a volatile combustible substance ignite in air when exposed to flame
2
: a point at which someone or something bursts suddenly into action or being
Examples of flash point in a Sentence
The city became a flash point as political tensions grew.
The situation reached a flash point when union leaders urged the workers to protest.
Recent Examples on the Web
Many flash points remain along the border and could be reactivated at any time by Xi’s aggressive regime.
—
Harsh V. Pant, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2024
That flash point foretells an America becoming more polarized the hotter things get, more sharply divided between its rural and urban communities and more hateful and more dangerous.
—Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2024
Roughly a century ago, the trial of John T. Scopes marked a flash point in an American culture war—between religious faith and science—that has been waged, in one form or another, to this day.
—John Kaag, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2024
Certification of local results is a key target in this effort, a once-mundane administrative step that has become a flash point in the debate over election security — and a potential opportunity to subvert the will of voters.
—Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, 26 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for flash point 
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Harsh V. Pant, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2024
That flash point foretells an America becoming more polarized the hotter things get, more sharply divided between its rural and urban communities and more hateful and more dangerous.
—Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2024
Roughly a century ago, the trial of John T. Scopes marked a flash point in an American culture war—between religious faith and science—that has been waged, in one form or another, to this day.
—John Kaag, The Atlantic, 29 Aug. 2024
Certification of local results is a key target in this effort, a once-mundane administrative step that has become a flash point in the debate over election security — and a potential opportunity to subvert the will of voters.
—Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post, 26 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for flash point
Dictionary Entries Near flash point
Cite this Entry
“Flash point.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flash%20point. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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