kindling

noun

kin·​dling ˈkin(d)-liŋ 

ˈkin-lən

: easily combustible material for starting a fire

Examples of kindling in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are certainly plenty of folding saws that look up to the task of slicing up kindling and firewood and carrying lightly through the wild, but beyond maybe a couple of nice Opinel folders, not much that wouldn't look severely outclassed by a Helle or Gränsfors. —New Atlas, 24 May 2025

But the French government’s attempt to fire the head of the Cinémathèque Française earlier that year supplied crucial kindling. —Eric Grode, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025

And Sankey and his athletic directors should leave in the Gulf of Mexico the especially flammable pile of kindling that Petitti has been trying to sell them. —Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 30 May 2025

My outfit, which seemed drab mere moments ago, is suddenly impossibly chic, elevated to high fashion by the completely insane amount of kindling in my arms. —Maeve Dunigan, New Yorker, 1 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1522, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for kindling

• swindling
• rekindling

Kids Definition

kindling

noun

kin·​dling ˈkin-(d)liŋ 

: material that burns easily and is used to start a fire

Medical Definition

kindling

noun

kind·​ling ˈkin-dliŋ 

: the electrophysiological changes that occur in the brain as a result of repeated intermittent exposure to a subthreshold electrical or chemical stimulus (as one causing seizures) so that there develops a usually permanent decrease in the threshold of excitability