0%

tinderbox

tin·der·box
T t

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [tin-der-boks]
    • /ˈtɪn dərˌbɒks/
    • /ˈtɪn.də.bɒks/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [tin-der-boks]
    • /ˈtɪn dərˌbɒks/

Definitions of tinderbox word

  • noun tinderbox a box for holding tinder, usually fitted with a flint and steel. 1
  • noun tinderbox a person or thing that is highly excitable, explosive, inflammable, etc.; a potential source of widespread violence: Berlin was the tinderbox of Europe. 1
  • noun tinderbox container for tinder 1
  • noun tinderbox explosive situation 1
  • countable noun tinderbox If you say that a situation is a tinderbox, you mean that it is very tense and something dangerous or unpleasant is likely to happen very soon. 0
  • noun tinderbox a box used formerly for holding tinder, esp one fitted with a flint and steel 0

Information block about the term

Origin of tinderbox

First appearance:

before 1520
One of the 28% oldest English words
First recorded in 1520-30; tinder + box1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Tinderbox

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

tinderbox popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 62% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.

tinderbox usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Top questions with tinderbox

  • what is a tinderbox?
  • how to make a tinderbox?
  • what does tinderbox mean?
  • what is tinderbox?
  • how to use a tinderbox?

See also

Matching words

Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?