as in hot button
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Recent Examples of third rail
If our job as marketers is to invite as many people as possible, sometimes that feels like a third rail not to touch.
—
Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024
At that last event Dylan touched the third rail of folk music by playing an electric guitar, in a performance that prompted boos from the audience — although whether the booing was a response to the transgression or the sound quality has been the subject of debate.
—Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times, 27 Dec. 2024
After decades of treating gambling as a third rail, almost every major U.S. pro sports league has not only gotten comfortable associating betting on its games, but also encourages it on a daily basis, with a cacophony of ads during games from each league’s betting partners.
—David Aldridge, The Athletic, 17 Apr. 2024
But cutting entitlements is also the third rail of American politics.
—Erin Doherty, Axios, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for third rail 
Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 25 Nov. 2024
At that last event Dylan touched the third rail of folk music by playing an electric guitar, in a performance that prompted boos from the audience — although whether the booing was a response to the transgression or the sound quality has been the subject of debate.
—Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times, 27 Dec. 2024
After decades of treating gambling as a third rail, almost every major U.S. pro sports league has not only gotten comfortable associating betting on its games, but also encourages it on a daily basis, with a cacophony of ads during games from each league’s betting partners.
—David Aldridge, The Athletic, 17 Apr. 2024
But cutting entitlements is also the third rail of American politics.
—Erin Doherty, Axios, 4 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for third rail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for third rail
Noun
-
Sea level rise — mostly due to glacial melt largely caused by anthropogenic climate change — has been a hot button topic for the past half century.—
Bruce Dorminey,
Forbes,
23 Jan. 2025
-
Known for biting jokes that dance around hot button topics including sexism and feminism — but also weed, animals, and The Real Housewives — Treyger recently wrapped filming on Season 2 of Survival of the Thickest, Netflix’s comedy series based on Michelle Buteau’s bestseller of the same name.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
10 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
And Waves, the Czech ticking time bomb historical thriller, audience award winner at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, won over the Academy.—
Scott Roxborough,
The Hollywood Reporter,
17 Dec. 2024
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The obesity epidemic is a ticking time bomb, and the current system of trial and error isn't cutting it.—
Josh Hammer,
Newsweek,
23 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Mobilizing more military hardware, stationing U.S. forces closer to opponents, and spurring weapons proliferation among allies only makes the region more of a powder keg.—
Van Jackson,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Oct. 2021
-
Although much of it was filmed in Ontario, the series has a good sense of Philadelphia as a stratified powder keg of a city.—
Daniel Fienberg,
The Hollywood Reporter,
28 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Funding for Ukraine has been a frequent flash point in government funding negotiations since Russia’s 2022 invasion, and the spigot is likely to close upon Trump’s inauguration.—
Sylvan Lane,
The Hill,
10 Dec. 2024
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What had been an inconvenience in one direction is now a blockage for both, a potential flash point.—
Alfredo Sosa,
The Christian Science Monitor,
13 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Third rail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/third%20rail. Accessed 1 Feb. 2025.
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