hot potato

Noun

hot potato (countable and uncountable, plural hot potatoes)

1. (uncountable) A child's game in which players pass a ball or other item between them, with the object of avoiding being left holding the item when time expires.

   Synonyms:

   pass the parcel

2. (countable, idiomatic) An unwanted problem that is awkward or delicate.
   • The “lame duck” Johnson Administration, in its final fortnight in office, grappled last week with a diplomatic hot potato in the form of the latest Soviet proposal for a “just and lasting” Middle East peace settlement.1969 January 12, Benjamin Welles, “A Hot Potato for Nixon”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   • How do you handle the work of a woman out on leave, yet not lose a valuable employee down the road? At the same time, companies know this is a hot potato, and they have to do something.1984 June 14, Carol Lawson, quoting Phyllis Silverman, “Parental Leave: a ‘Hot Potato’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN