tinder
noun
tin·der ˈtin-dər 
1
: a very flammable substance adaptable for use as kindling
2
: something that serves to incite or inflame
that rhetoric was ready tinder for revolution
Margaret Peters
Margaret Peters
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web All those details will provide tinder for a matchup set for Columbus, where U-M hasn’t won since 2000. Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 29 Aug. 2022 There are two primary types of fire starters: the spark and the tinder. Chris Meehan, Popular Mechanics, 14 Aug. 2022 Grass has effectively become tinder and wildfires continue to ravage Europe. Raven Smith, Vogue, 20 July 2022 Continue building perpendicular layers until your log cabin is stacked three to four high, then light the tinder and kindling. Emily Reed, Outside Online, 14 Apr. 2019 County Judge Ronald Barnett said rain over the past couple of days has helped but more is needed to alleviate the tinder dry conditions in his county. Dale Ellis, Arkansas Online, 30 July 2022 Its tender evocations of the way a crush can turn someone else’s body into flint and tinder, an object of almost holy reverence, sing like a choir every time. Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2022 In California, firefighters have struggled to contain out-of-control wildfires, fed by tinder-dry conditions caused by low humidity and erratic winds. Ginger Adams Otis, WSJ, 7 Aug. 2022 That was when a spark from the mower blade striking debris ignited the tinder-dry grass, and a fire sped into the adjacent subdivision, damaging 26 homes, destroying nine of them, Davis said. BostonGlobe.com, 27 July 2022 See More
Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 29 Aug. 2022 There are two primary types of fire starters: the spark and the tinder. Chris Meehan, Popular Mechanics, 14 Aug. 2022 Grass has effectively become tinder and wildfires continue to ravage Europe. Raven Smith, Vogue, 20 July 2022 Continue building perpendicular layers until your log cabin is stacked three to four high, then light the tinder and kindling. Emily Reed, Outside Online, 14 Apr. 2019 County Judge Ronald Barnett said rain over the past couple of days has helped but more is needed to alleviate the tinder dry conditions in his county. Dale Ellis, Arkansas Online, 30 July 2022 Its tender evocations of the way a crush can turn someone else’s body into flint and tinder, an object of almost holy reverence, sing like a choir every time. Los Angeles Times, 25 July 2022 In California, firefighters have struggled to contain out-of-control wildfires, fed by tinder-dry conditions caused by low humidity and erratic winds. Ginger Adams Otis, WSJ, 7 Aug. 2022 That was when a spark from the mower blade striking debris ignited the tinder-dry grass, and a fire sped into the adjacent subdivision, damaging 26 homes, destroying nine of them, Davis said. BostonGlobe.com, 27 July 2022 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English tynder; akin to Old High German zuntra tinder, Old English tendan to kindle
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
tinder
noun
tin·der ˈtin-dər
: material that burns easily and can be used as kindling
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