touch paper

noun

paper saturated with potassium nitrate to make it burn slowly, used for igniting explosives and fireworks.

Origin of touch paper

First recorded in 1740–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use touch paper in a sentence

If a roman candle is intended to be fired singly, twist a piece of touchpaper round the mouth.
The Pyrotechnist's Treasury | Thomas Kentish
After lighting the touchpaper, remove to a distance; as bits of string are likely to get driven into the face, on the explosion.
The Pyrotechnist's Treasury | Thomas Kentish
He then placed the touchpaper on an old cambric handkerchief.
Travels in North America, From Modern Writers | William Bingley

British Dictionary definitions for touchpaper

touchpaper

/ (ˈtʌtʃˌpeɪpə) /

noun

paper soaked in saltpetre and used for firing gunpowder
light the touchpaper or light the blue touchpaper to do something that will cause much anger or excitement

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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