noun
Other Word Forms
- unkindling adjective
Etymology
Origin of kindling
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; kindle 1, -ing 1
Compare meaning
How does kindling compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was the excess on show on the social media accounts of politicians' children that provided the kindling for Nepal's Gen Z uprising last year.
From BBC
I was out at the woodpile, splitting kindling, when he came sailing out of the henhouse.
From Literature
She dragged some fallen-down branches and driftwood into a pile and used dried palm leaves for kindling.
From Literature
It was easy to find twigs for kindling and he soon had a tepee of twigs built over his leaf pile.
From Literature
Plus, we have a sub—a bald guy with legs like kindling sticks and his name safety-pinned to his shirt like a kindergartener whose mom thought he might forget.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
