"tinderbox" meaning in All languages combined

See tinderbox on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: tinderboxes [plural]
Etymology: tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|tinder|box}} tinder + box Head templates: {{en-noun}} tinderbox (plural tinderboxes)
  1. (historical) A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire. Tags: historical Translations (small container containing flint, steel, and tinder): မီးခတ် (mi:hkat) (Burmese), křesadlo [neuter] (Czech), tondeldoos [feminine] (Dutch), tuluskukkaro (Finnish), esqueiro [masculine] (Galician), Zunderbüchse [feminine] (German), Feuerzeug [neuter] (German), 火口箱 (hokuchibako) (alt: ほくちばこ) (Japanese), борина (borina) [feminine] (Macedonian), kishtey sponk [masculine] (Manx), woolkʼą́ą́h (Navajo), огни́во (ognívo) [neuter] (Russian), kresadlo [neuter] (Slovak), yesquero [masculine] (Spanish), elddon [neuter] (Swedish), fnöskdosa [common-gender] (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-tinderbox-en-noun-cHcX9~fZ Disambiguation of 'small container containing flint, steel, and tinder': 96 3 1
  2. (by extension) A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire. Tags: broadly
    Sense id: en-tinderbox-en-noun-e4zslG1g Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 17 75 8
  3. (figurative) A potentially dangerous situation. Tags: figuratively Translations (potentially dangerous situation): 火藥桶 (Chinese Mandarin), 火药桶 (huǒyào tǒng) (Chinese Mandarin), ruutitynnyri (Finnish), poudrière [feminine] (French), Pulverfass [neuter] (German), polveriera [feminine] (Italian), буре барут (bure barut) [neuter] (Macedonian), порохова́я бо́чка (poroxovája bóčka) [feminine] (Russian), polvorín [masculine] (Spanish), krutdurk [common-gender] (Swedish), порохова́ бо́чка (poroxová bóčka) [feminine] (Ukrainian)
    Sense id: en-tinderbox-en-noun-IqJHsBr6 Disambiguation of 'potentially dangerous situation': 1 3 96
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: powder keg, powderkeg, powder magazine, tinder-box, tinder box Hypernyms: box

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for tinderbox meaning in All languages combined (7.2kB)

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tinder",
        "3": "box"
      },
      "expansion": "tinder + box",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave.",
  "forms": [
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      "form": "tinderboxes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "tinderbox (plural tinderboxes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  "hypernyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "box"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Stephen Mitchell, The Tinderbox, page 5",
          "text": "Just bring me the old tinderbox that my grandmother forgot the last time she went down there.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire."
      ],
      "id": "en-tinderbox-en-noun-cHcX9~fZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "flint",
          "flint"
        ],
        [
          "steel",
          "steel"
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          "tinder",
          "tinder"
        ],
        [
          "kindle",
          "kindle"
        ],
        [
          "fire",
          "fire"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "my",
          "lang": "Burmese",
          "roman": "mi:hkat",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "word": "မီးခတ်"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "křesadlo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "tondeldoos"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "word": "tuluskukkaro"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "gl",
          "lang": "Galician",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "esqueiro"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "Zunderbüchse"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Feuerzeug"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "alt": "ほくちばこ",
          "code": "ja",
          "lang": "Japanese",
          "roman": "hokuchibako",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "word": "火口箱"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "borina",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "борина"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "gv",
          "lang": "Manx",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "kishtey sponk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "nv",
          "lang": "Navajo",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "word": "woolkʼą́ą́h"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "ognívo",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "огни́во"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "sk",
          "lang": "Slovak",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "kresadlo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "yesquero"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "elddon"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "96 3 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
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          "word": "fnöskdosa"
        }
      ]
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          "_dis": "17 75 8",
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1974, Harry Chapin (lyrics and music), “What Made America Famous”, in Verities & Balderdash",
          "text": "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",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, L. K. Ludwig, Creative Wildfire: An Introduction to Art Journaling, page 30",
          "text": "Think of your blank journal as a tinderbox, a box for holding combustible materials, ready to catch fire when you sit down to work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire."
      ],
      "id": "en-tinderbox-en-noun-e4zslG1g",
      "links": [
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          "dry",
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          "fire",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
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    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, H. S. Haskell, Sagebrush Or Gold Dust, page 291",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A potentially dangerous situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-tinderbox-en-noun-IqJHsBr6",
      "links": [
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          "dangerous",
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        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) A potentially dangerous situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "word": "火藥桶"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "huǒyào tǒng",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "word": "火药桶"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "word": "ruutitynnyri"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "poudrière"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "Pulverfass"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "polveriera"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "mk",
          "lang": "Macedonian",
          "roman": "bure barut",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "буре барут"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "poroxovája bóčka",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "порохова́я бо́чка"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "polvorín"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "common-gender"
          ],
          "word": "krutdurk"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 3 96",
          "code": "uk",
          "lang": "Ukrainian",
          "roman": "poroxová bóčka",
          "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "порохова́ бо́чка"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "powder keg"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "powderkeg"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "powder magazine"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "tinder-box"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "tinder box"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "John Palsgrave"
  ],
  "word": "tinderbox"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns"
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  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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        "2": "tinder",
        "3": "box"
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      "name": "compound"
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  "etymology_text": "tinder + box, first use appears c. 1530, in the writings of John Palsgrave.",
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      "tags": [
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "tinderbox (plural tinderboxes)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
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        "English terms with quotations"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007, Stephen Mitchell, The Tinderbox, page 5",
          "text": "Just bring me the old tinderbox that my grandmother forgot the last time she went down there.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire."
      ],
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        [
          "kindle",
          "kindle"
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          "fire"
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        "(historical) A small container containing flint, steel, and tinder (dry, finely-divided fibrous matter), once used to help kindle a fire."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
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          "ref": "1974, Harry Chapin (lyrics and music), “What Made America Famous”, in Verities & Balderdash",
          "text": "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",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, L. K. Ludwig, Creative Wildfire: An Introduction to Art Journaling, page 30",
          "text": "Think of your blank journal as a tinderbox, a box for holding combustible materials, ready to catch fire when you sit down to work.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A place that is so dry and hot that there is danger of fire."
      ],
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      ],
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          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A potentially dangerous situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "dangerous",
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) A potentially dangerous situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively"
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    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "powder keg"
    },
    {
      "word": "powderkeg"
    },
    {
      "word": "powder magazine"
    },
    {
      "word": "tinder-box"
    },
    {
      "word": "tinder box"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "my",
      "lang": "Burmese",
      "roman": "mi:hkat",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "word": "မီးခတ်"
    },
    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "křesadlo"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "tondeldoos"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "word": "tuluskukkaro"
    },
    {
      "code": "gl",
      "lang": "Galician",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "esqueiro"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "Zunderbüchse"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Feuerzeug"
    },
    {
      "alt": "ほくちばこ",
      "code": "ja",
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "roman": "hokuchibako",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "word": "火口箱"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "borina",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "борина"
    },
    {
      "code": "gv",
      "lang": "Manx",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "kishtey sponk"
    },
    {
      "code": "nv",
      "lang": "Navajo",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "word": "woolkʼą́ą́h"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "ognívo",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "огни́во"
    },
    {
      "code": "sk",
      "lang": "Slovak",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "kresadlo"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "yesquero"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "elddon"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "small container containing flint, steel, and tinder",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "fnöskdosa"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "word": "火藥桶"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "huǒyào tǒng",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "word": "火药桶"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "word": "ruutitynnyri"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "poudrière"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "Pulverfass"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "polveriera"
    },
    {
      "code": "mk",
      "lang": "Macedonian",
      "roman": "bure barut",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "буре барут"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "poroxovája bóčka",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "порохова́я бо́чка"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "polvorín"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "common-gender"
      ],
      "word": "krutdurk"
    },
    {
      "code": "uk",
      "lang": "Ukrainian",
      "roman": "poroxová bóčka",
      "sense": "potentially dangerous situation",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "порохова́ бо́чка"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "John Palsgrave"
  ],
  "word": "tinderbox"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.