English Explanatory Dictionary

tinderbox

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire.
  2. A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire.
  3. A potentially dangerous situation.
name
  1. A suburb of Kingborough council area, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Knabrupt-tinderbox.wav

Word forms

tinderbox tinderboxes tinder-box tinder box

Etymology

From tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave.

Synonyms

powder keg powderkeg powder magazine

Derived words

Pig and Tinderbox
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on T Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary