tinderbox

noun

tin·​der·​box ˈtin-dər-ˌbäks How to pronounce tinderbox (audio)
1
a
: a metal box for holding tinder and usually a flint and steel for striking a spark
b
: a highly inflammable object or place
2
: a potentially explosive place or situation

Examples of tinderbox in a Sentence

That old house is really a tinderbox. officials sought to calm the situation, which had grown into a tinderbox
Recent Examples on the Web Into this social tinderbox AI companies have lobbed a technological Pandora’s Box whose outcomes are based on humans training the software through implicit weights and biases. Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 28 Feb. 2024 Three months of the Israel-Hamas war As the grueling Israel-Hamas conflict hit the three-month mark Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken pushed forward with an urgent Middle East mission amid fears the tinderbox region could explode into a wider war. USA TODAY, 8 Jan. 2024 But if the world has been consumed with the fires raging across Canada’s forests, turned into tinderboxes from the effects of climate change, the plight of the river has hit close to home in Cowichan Valley. Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2023 The border area between Israel and Lebanon has been a tinderbox ever since Hamas detonated the latest war with a deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel. Julia Jester, NBC News, 21 Dec. 2023 And the packed community meeting about crime in the arena’s neighborhood on a hot August night told everyone that the situation is a tinderbox. Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 14 Dec. 2023 Officials blame immigrants and liberal housing laws, but a Times investigation found the entrenched problems that turned downtown Johannesburg into a blighted tinderbox. John Eligon, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2023 But no one is going to come out of this romantic tinderbox unscathed. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2023 Until the end of the Hamas-Israel conflict, diplomats and observers of many stripes will continue to watch the tinderbox here very closely. Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, 12 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tinderbox.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of tinderbox was in 1530

Dictionary Entries Near tinderbox

Cite this Entry

“Tinderbox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tinderbox. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

tinderbox

noun
tin·​der·​box -ˌbäks How to pronounce tinderbox (audio)
1
: a metal box for holding tinder and usually a flint and steel for striking a spark
2
: something that can easily catch fire

More from Merriam-Webster on tinderbox

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