Word.ws English Dictionary

sulfur matches

sulfur matches is the plural of sulfur match.

Meaning of sulfur match

Noun

sulfur match (plural sulfur matches)

  1. (obsolete) A kind of taper or miniature torch produced by splintering tar barrels, immersing the slips into sulfur, and applying them to a flame.
    • ... the old sulphur match was intended, not to produce fire, but to convey fire from the tinder to the candle. Sulphur matches were usually made by splitting thin slips off the edge of resinous pinewood or other light, inflammable wood, sharpening roughly each end, and dipping into melted sulphur.1907 November, Elliot Stock & al., "Notes of the Month“, The Antiquary, Vol. XLIII (OS) or III (NS), No. 11, p. 411
    Synonyms:
    tar-barrel match, spunk
  2. (historical) A match activated by a sulfuric reaction, formerly by immersion of various chemicals in sulfuric acid and now more usually by friction and some amount of phosphorus.
    Synonyms:
    brimstone match

Questions about sulfur matches

What is sulfur matches the plural of?
Sulfur matches is the plural of sulfur match.

Words near sulfur matches in the dictionary

  1. sulfur fungus
  2. sulfur hexafluoride
  3. sulfur impression
  4. sulfur impressions
  5. sulfur match
  6. sulfur matches
  7. sulfur monoxide
  8. sulfur mustard
  9. sulfur nitride
  10. sulfur ore
  11. sulfur ores

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sulfur matches (page history and authors); sulfur match (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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