tinder

noun

tin·​der ˈtin-dər How to pronounce tinder (audio)
1
: a very flammable substance adaptable for use as kindling
2
: something that serves to incite or inflame
that rhetoric was ready tinder for revolutionMargaret Peters

Examples of tinder in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
After a period of heat and drought began last summer, the plants dried up and turned into tinder. The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2025 But the fires in Los Angeles showed how older homes could become tinder. Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2025 But even so, regardless of the cause, once a fire is lit in a tinder box environment like a windy Los Angeles, the business of extinguishing it takes a massive expenditure of public effort and treasure—all in the face of a massive loss of life and property. Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 14 Jan. 2025 Such a boom and bust cycle means a lot of lush greenery that grows in the rainy times, and a lot of dead leaves, trees and other tinder that gets left behind when things dry. Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 10 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for tinder 

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of tinder was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near tinder

Cite this Entry

“Tinder.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tinder. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.

Kids Definition

tinder

noun
tin·​der ˈtin-dər How to pronounce tinder (audio)
: a material that burns easily and can be used as kindling

More from Merriam-Webster on tinder

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