friction match

American

noun

a kind of match tipped with a compound that ignites by friction.

friction match British

noun

a match that ignites as a result of the heat produced by friction when it is struck on a rough surface See also safety match

"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

Etymology

Origin of friction match

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The first really successful friction matches were made in 1827 by John Walker, an English druggist.

From Project Gutenberg

As there were no friction matches in those days, it was the custom to kindle a fire by striking sparks with a flint and steel into dry tinder-stuff.

From Project Gutenberg

Thucydides never had his works puffed in a newspaper, Virgil and Horace never poetized or lectured for a lyceum; Charlemagne never saw a locomotive, nor did St. Thomas Aquinas ever use a friction match.

From Project Gutenberg

This took a great deal of time and trouble, and Allin, seeing the necessity for friction matches, set about to make them, and succeeded.

From Project Gutenberg

So simple an invention as the discovery of the friction match saved hours of labor and permitted hours of leisure to be used in other ways.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023