How to Use kindling in a Sentence
kindling
noun-
The fires might be put out for a time, but the kindling would remain.
—Libby Watson, The New Republic, 1 June 2020
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Put it beneath some kindling, and light the whole thing.
—Nick Meyers, Popular Mechanics, 3 Mar. 2015
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Rabbi Shneur Itzinger will lead the kindling of the 9-foot-tall menorah on the first night of Hanukkah.
—Matt Leavitt, cleveland, 12 Dec. 2022
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All the kindling was already stacked, the pandemic was just the spark that lit the fire.
—Andy O'Connor, SPIN, 18 Jan. 2022
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The more immunizations go around, the less kindling there is for the virus to burn.
—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 3 Sep. 2021
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All that parched brush worked like kindling and soon the endless pines began to be set ablaze.
—Joseph Bien-Kahn, Rolling Stone, 11 June 2023
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On top, make a small tepee-style fire of tinder and kindling.
—Emily Reed, Outside Online, 14 Apr. 2019
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The building also has hardwood floors, adding to the kindling.
—miamiherald, 13 Sep. 2017
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The kindling was laid by the drought that has been ravaging eastern Australia for two years.
—The Economist, 16 Nov. 2019
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What’s happening in this early stage of Alzheimer’s can be likened to the kindling that starts a house fire.
—Elie Dolgin, Newsweek, 16 Feb. 2017
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Hold the kindling in place using a scrap of wood with a roofing nail driven through its end.
—Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 16 Nov. 2018
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Trying to get a spark from a damp match is a lot harder than holding a flame to dry kindling.
—Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2020
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Most of these tools are at home chopping down trees and splitting the wood into kindling.
—Tim MacWelch, Outdoor Life, 27 Jan. 2020
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My daughter scatters my kindling and my son manages to hit himself in the eye with a stick.
—Reid Doughten, Longreads, 22 Sep. 2017
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This fireplace grate comes with nine bars, providing a ton of area to rest your kindling.
—Chris Hachey, BGR, 3 May 2021
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Gather dry tinder, such as birchbark, and a large amount of dry twigs for kindling.
—Jim Baird, Field & Stream, 28 June 2023
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Each alone could have ignited the kindling that has blazed into an all-out war.
—Editorial Board, Star Tribune, 19 May 2021
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The news spread like fire on dry kindling, lighting a nationwide craze.
—David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 15 May 2022
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Attendees can write down a wish and add it to the kindling before the bonfire is set ablaze, and purchase s’mores kits for a sticky snack.
—BostonGlobe.com, 29 Oct. 2021
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Cover the flat surface with a thick layer of tinder and kindling.
—T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, 9 Jan. 2017
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The resourceful men threw their own shawls onto her for kindling.
—Namwali Serpell, Harper's Magazine, 18 Aug. 2020
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But the short of it was that the kindling and tinderboxes were seen as perfect green mulch for flora and fauna.
—Victor Davis Hanson, National Review, 15 Sep. 2020
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As smoke billows through their backyard, father and son wave two-foot taro leaves over a three-foot hole filled with kindling and wood to light it on fire.
—Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 July 2022
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Keep in mind that some of the smaller fire pits are not large enough for standard wood logs; many of these require wood pellets or small kindling.
—Renee Freemon Mulvihill, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Aug. 2022
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The polished blade skated through the baton work, neatly splitting the kindling.
—The Editors, Outdoor Life, 20 Feb. 2020
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Inside her friend’s house, Manes hid in a shower as Irma flung boats through the air, ripped roofs from buildings and made kindling of the island’s trees.
—Matthew Ormseth, courant.com, 13 Sep. 2017
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This graceful blade, with a classic Scandi grind edge and black traction coating, made quick work of the kindling.
—The Editors, Outdoor Life, 20 Feb. 2020
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Firewood needs to be chopped, tent stakes need to be pounded into the ground, and small branches need to be turned into kindling and fuel for the fire.
—Outdoor Life, 23 Feb. 2021
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Thankfully, evening chores still carried on as normal: the chopping of kindling, and spreading sacks of sand over pathways to dry out the mud.
—Hazlitt, 24 Jan. 2024
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In Richard Roper’s capable hands, the search becomes so much more – a kindling of confidence, a step down new paths.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'kindling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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