a highly flammable material or preparation formerly used for catching the spark from a flint and steel struck together for fire or light.
2.
any dry substance that readily takes fire from a spark.
Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE tynder; akin to G Zunder, ON tundr, OE -tendan (as in ātendan to set on fire), Goth tundnan to catch fire, G -zünden in entzünden to kindle
"dry, inflammable substance," O.E. tynder, related to tendan "to kindle," from P.Gmc. *tund- "ignite, kindle" (cf. Goth. tandjan, Swed. tända, Ger. zünden). Tinderbox "box in which tinder and flint are kept" is recorded from 1530; fig. sense of " 'inflammable' person or thing" is attested from 1598.