- tinderbox
- noun Date: 1530 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
New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.
tinderbox
Look at other dictionaries:
Tinderbox — Album par Siouxsie and the Banshees Sortie 21 avril 1986 Durée 61 min 56 s Genre Alternative Rock Producteur Siouxsie and the … Wikipédia en Français
Tinderbox — (englisch; auf deutsch: Pulverfass) ist der Name verschiedener Softwareprodukte: eine kommerzielle Content Management Software der Firma Eastgate für Mac OS X, siehe Tinderbox (Eastgate), ein Softwareentwicklungswerkzeug des Mozilla Projektes,… … Deutsch Wikipedia
tinderbox — box in which tinder and flint are kept, 1520s, from TINDER (Cf. tinder) + BOX (Cf. box) (n.); fig. sense of inflammable person or thing is attested from 1590s … Etymology dictionary
tinderbox — ► NOUN historical ▪ a box containing tinder, flint, a steel, and other items for kindling fires … English terms dictionary
tinderbox — [tin′dərbäks΄] n. 1. Obs. a metal box for holding tinder, flint, and steel for starting a fire 2. any highly flammable object, structure, etc. 3. a place or situation likely to be the source of a flare up of trouble, war, etc … English World dictionary
Tinderbox — Historically, a tinderbox is a small container containing flint, firesteel, and tinder (typically charcloth, but possibly a small quantity of dry, finely divided fibrous matter such as straw), used together to help kindle a fire. Tinderboxes fell … Wikipedia
tinderbox — UK [ˈtɪndə(r)ˌbɒks] / US [ˈtɪndərˌbɑks] noun [countable] Word forms tinderbox : singular tinderbox plural tinderboxes 1) a situation or place that could suddenly become extremely violent or dangerous 2) in the past, a small box used for holding… … English dictionary
tinderbox — /tin deuhr boks /, n. 1. a box for holding tinder, usually fitted with a flint and steel. 2. a person or thing that is highly excitable, explosive, inflammable, etc.; a potential source of widespread violence: Berlin was the tinderbox of Europe.… … Universalium
tinderbox — tin|der|box [ˈtındəbɔks US dərba:ks] n 1.) [C usually singular] a place or situation that is dangerous and where there could suddenly be a lot of fighting or problems ▪ The area is a tinderbox that could again plunge the country into civil war. 2 … Dictionary of contemporary English
tinderbox — [[t]tɪ̱ndə(r)bɒks[/t]] tinderboxes also tinder box N COUNT: usu sing 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 … English dictionary
tinderbox — noun 1 (countable usually singular) a place or situation that is dangerous and where there could suddenly be a lot of fighting or problems: Racial tension was high, and the southern states were a real tinderbox. 2 (C) a box containing things… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
