1. Damocles - Noun
2. Damocles - Proper noun
the Greek courtier to Dionysius the Elder who (according to legend) was condemned to sit under a naked sword that was suspended by a hair in order to demonstrate to him that being a king was not the happy state Damocles had said it was (4th century BC)
Source: WordNetThe world may end up under a Sword of Damocles on a tightrope over the abyss. Andrei Gromyko
This result [... ] will daily stand as a veritable sword of Damocles over every succeeding president and his advisers. William Rehnquist
Living with AIDS is like always having the sword of Damocles over your head. The disease is scarier than death itself. The disease is so messy, so devastating, so pervasive. It robs you of everything you hold dear. Larry Kramer
Fate... hangs over our heads like the sword of Damocles and inexorably distills a slow and deadly venom. One must bend to it and abandon oneself to boundless despair... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
HIs words made Claire remember the sword of Damocles still hanging over their heads, menacing to fall any minute, and she sat up slowly. Source: Internet
In our gut we think the escalation is another false positive, but as cybersecurity professionals; we wait for the sword of Damocles to fall. Source: Internet