as in hot button
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Recent Examples of third rail
The threat of severe cutbacks amid those entitlements, long considered a third rail in U.S. politics, has angered some Trump allies.
—
Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 13 Mar. 2025
There was significant damage to BART’s third rail and track infrastructure, which were repaired after the vehicle was removed.
—Harry Harris, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2025
There's also a third rail that's used to attach the camera to the handle and can be used to mount the camera and interface device on a rifle, crossbow, compound bow, or anything with a compatible rail.
—David Szondy, New Atlas, 18 Feb. 2025
As previously reported by The News, more than 3,000 riders were stranded in December when the State St. power transformer exploded under Downtown Brooklyn, cutting power to the third rail of the F and the G lines.
—Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for third rail
Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 13 Mar. 2025
There was significant damage to BART’s third rail and track infrastructure, which were repaired after the vehicle was removed.
—Harry Harris, The Mercury News, 24 Jan. 2025
There's also a third rail that's used to attach the camera to the handle and can be used to mount the camera and interface device on a rifle, crossbow, compound bow, or anything with a compatible rail.
—David Szondy, New Atlas, 18 Feb. 2025
As previously reported by The News, more than 3,000 riders were stranded in December when the State St. power transformer exploded under Downtown Brooklyn, cutting power to the third rail of the F and the G lines.
—Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for third rail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for third rail
Noun
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Healey has sadly been a pushover to House and Senate Democrats, rarely challenging them on fiscal issues or hot button topics like the migrant crisis.—
Joe Battenfeld,
Boston Herald,
27 Mar. 2025
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While this may not be a problem in a conversation about whether dogs are superior to cats, today's hot button topics are much more likely to touch on security-significant issues such as foreign policy, immigration, diversity efforts, and even national security itself.—
Peter Suciu,
Forbes,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Go deeper: Malware's AI time bomb Want more stories like this?—
Sam Sabin,
Axios,
24 Mar. 2025
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Mendoza said those problems include the ticking time bomb that is the city budget’s structural deficit and how that could spell an adverse effect on Pritzker and the rest of state government.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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During that tour, just as now, America was raw and explosive, a powder keg.—
Ryan Miller,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2025
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During that tour, just as now, America was raw and explosive, a powder keg.—
Ryan Miller,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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This case has become a national flash point as the Trump administration ratchets up its deportation efforts and its crackdown on immigration.—
Brett Samuels,
The Hill,
18 Apr. 2025
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Gender dynamics became a flash point: Danes see themselves as pioneers for equality, while many new arrivals came from traditional Muslim societies where women often did not work outside the home and girls could not always decide when and whom to marry.—
Robert Petkoff Krish Seenivasan Quinton Kamara,
New York Times,
24 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Third rail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/third%20rail. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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