tinderbox
A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder, once used to help kindle a fireA small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire.
» The developing world is home to densely populated megacities that may be tinderboxes of viral transmission.
Hybrid · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(historical)A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire.
Zunderbüchse, Feuerzeug
огни́воognívo, креса́лоkresálo
огни́воohnývo, креси́воkresývo, креса́лоkresálo
(broadly)A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire.
(figuratively)A potentially dangerous situation.
Pulverfass
порохова́я бо́чкаporoxovája bóčka
порохова́ бо́чкаporoxová bóčka
a dangerous state of affairs; a situation that is a potential source of violence
Examples
1 sentencesThe developing world is home to densely populated megacities that may be tinderboxes of viral transmission.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 2
By meaning 2
Origin
From tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave.From tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: tinderboxesSynonyms
3 synonymsSee also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.