kindling

English

Noun

kindling (uncountable)

1. small pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire.

   Go and collect some kindling.

Usage notes

Kindling refers to the second stage of building a fire: tinder is used to light kindling, which then lights the main fire.

Coordinate terms

• tinder

Translations

pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire

Dutch: aanmaakhout (nl) Finnish: sytyke (fi), syttöpuut (fi) pl. German: Kleinholz (de) n. Italian: esca (it) f., accelerante (it) m.

Russian: растопка (ru) f. Spanish: astillas (es) f. pl. Swedish: tändved (sv) c.

Verb

kindling

1. Present participle of kindle.

   Despite the damp wood, he had no trouble kindling a fire.