tinderbox

名词 n.
中文释义

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire. historical
    — Haines helped himself and snapped the case to. He put it back in his sidepocket and took from his waistcoatpocket a nickel tinderbox, sprang it open too, and, having lit his cigarette, held the flaming spunk towards Stephen in the shell of his hands.
  2. A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire. broadly
    — And then came the night that made America famous / Was it carelessness or someone's sick idea of a joke? / In the tinderbox trap that we hippies lived in, someone struck a spark
  3. A potentially dangerous situation. figuratively
    — This act was the "match that ignited the great tinderbox of fuel" that had been building for years between many of the countries in Europe.

词形变化

tinderboxes plural tinder-box alternative tinder box alternative

词汇关系

上位词
box
衍生词
Pig and Tinderbox

词源

From tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave.
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