Word.ws English Dictionary

sulphur match

sulphur match is the alternative spelling 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 sulphur match

What is sulphur match the alternative spelling of?
Sulphur match is the alternative spelling of sulfur match.

Words near sulphur match in the dictionary

  1. sulphur ether
  2. sulphur fungi
  3. sulphur fungus
  4. sulphur hexafluoride
  5. sulphur impression
  6. sulphur match
  7. sulphur monoxide
  8. sulphur mustard
  9. sulphur nitride
  10. sulphur nitrides
  11. sulphur of ivy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sulphur match (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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Cite this entry: “sulphur match.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sulphur_match. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.