Word.ws English Dictionary

kindling

/ˈkɪnd.lɪŋ/

kindling noun: small pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire. Also the present participle and gerund of kindle.

Noun

kindling (plural kindlings)

  1. Small pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire.
    • Go and collect some kindling.
    • When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, and her pretty little Alsatian maid beside her, laying a log...1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter III, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
  2. The act by which something is kindled.
    • December 14, 1784, Hester Rogers, letter to the Rev. Mr. Fletcher
      The kindlings of love which had been felt before, now became a flame in every believing soul; and when fallen on our knees, the power of God descended of a truth […]

Adjective

kindling (comparative more kindling, superlative most kindling)

  1. Illuminated, lit.
    • The morning o'er the gilded grove
      Bright on the kindling landscape fell,
      I sought her where she oft did rove
      In want and sorrow's lonely cell;—1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, "Ye shall seek me in the Morning, but I shall not be,", page 52

Also used as

kindling is also the present participle and gerund of kindle.

kindling meaning in Sanskrit and Tagalog

kindling in Sanskrit

pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire
इन्धन indhana

kindling in Tagalog

pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire
panduop

Examples of kindling in a sentence

  • But now, in late winter, it feels like I'm standing under a pile of kindling.
  • Hanna added the last bit of kindling to the lowsome fire.
  • Kindling wood logs were provided and those had to be chopped into sticks.

All 11 example sentences with kindling

Forms of kindling

Noun
pluralkindlings
Adjective
comparativemore kindling
superlativemost kindling

Origin of kindling

From kindle + -ing.

Phrases with kindling

Questions about kindling

What does kindling mean?
Kindling means small pieces of wood and twigs used to start a fire.
What is kindling in Sanskrit?
Kindling in Sanskrit is इन्धन (indhana). See Kindling meaning in Sanskrit.
What part of speech is kindling?
Kindling can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce kindling?
Kindling is pronounced /ˈkɪnd.lɪŋ/.
What is the plural of kindling?
The plural of kindling is kindlings.

Words near kindling in the dictionary

  1. kindliest
  2. kindlily
  3. kindlin
  4. kindliness
  5. kindlinesses
  6. kindling
  7. kindling point
  8. kindling points
  9. kindlings
  10. kindlins
  11. kindly

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kindling (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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