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 PetersExamples of tinder in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
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 
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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
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.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tinder
noun
tin·der
ˈtin-dər 
: a material that burns easily and can be used as kindling
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