tinderbox

Definition

A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire.

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "Haines helped himself and snapped the case to. He put it back in his sidepocket and took from his waistcoatpocket a nickel tinderbox, sprang it open too, and, having lit his cigarette, held the flaming spunk towards Stephen in the shell of his hands."
• "Just bring me the old tinderbox that my grandmother forgot the last time she went down there."
• "And then came the night that made America famous / Was it carelessness or someone's sick idea of a joke? / In the tinderbox trap that we hippies lived in, someone struck a spark"