[ US /ˈtɪndɝˌbɑks/ ]
[ UK /tˈɪndəbˌɒks/ ]
NOUN
  1. a dangerous state of affairs; a situation that is a potential source of violence
    the Balkans are the tinderbox of Europe
  2. a box for holding tinder

How To Use tinderbox In A Sentence

  • She slipped her feet into her shoes then threw on a clean dress, not bothering to tie half of the laces, and around her waist she put on the old belt that had her pouch with the tinderbox in it.
  • So now our tinderbox, and cauldron, and roasting fork, and bowls - all of these needful and precious things for our journeying - would lose their importance and become no more than what they were.
  • MARTIN: You know, similarly, Mary Kate, your former boss, in the days after the Los Angeles riots in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, also, you know, faced a similar, it's not quite the same thing, but a very sort of similar kind of tinderbox situation. NPR Topics: News
  • She closed the tinderbox, snuffing the flames, then settled back down where she was lying before.
  • The racial tension in the area makes it a tinderbox ready to ignite.
  • While many experts agree that the national forests have become tinderboxes, there is strong disagreement even within the U.S. Forest Service on how to handle the issue.
  • In hot, dry summers every tree is a potential tinderbox.
  • The tinderbox is a system set up 40 years ago to make changes in the Legislature-approved budget when lawmakers aren't in session. Las Vegas Sun Stories: All Sun Headlines
  • the Balkans are the tinderbox of Europe
  • MSPs and prison officers say Fairweather's findings show that Scotland's jails are tinderboxes.
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