kindle

[kin-dl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR kindle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), kin·dled, kin·dling.

to start (a fire); cause (a flame, blaze, etc.) to begin burning.

to set fire to or ignite (fuel or any combustible matter).

to excite; stir up or set going; animate; rouse; inflame: He kindled their hopes of victory.

to light up, illuminate, or make bright: Happiness kindled her eyes.

verb (used without object), kin·dled, kin·dling.

to begin to burn, as combustible matter, a light, fire, or flame.

to become aroused or animated.

to become lighted up, bright, or glowing, as the sky at dawn or the eyes with ardor.

Origin of kindle

1150–1200; Middle English kindlen < Old Norse kynda; compare Old Norse kindill torch, candle

Related formskin·dler, noun

Synonyms for kindle

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR kindle ON THESAURUS.COM

1–3. fire, light. 3. arouse, awaken, bestir, incite, stimulate

Synonym study

1–3. Kindle, ignite, inflame literally mean to set something on fire. To kindle is to cause something gradually to begin burning; it is often used figuratively: to kindle logs; to kindle someone's interest. To ignite is to set something on fire with a sudden burst of flame; it too is often used figuratively: to ignite straw; to ignite dangerous hatreds. Inflame is most often used figuratively, meaning to intensify, excite, or rouse: to inflame passions.

kindle

[kin-dl]

verb (used with object), kin·dled, kin·dling.

(of animals, especially rabbits) to bear (young); produce (offspring).

verb (used without object), kin·dled, kin·dling.

(of animals, especially rabbits) to give birth, as to a litter.

noun

a litter of kittens, rabbits, etc.

Origin of kindle

1175–1225; Middle English kindelen, v. use of kindel offspring, young, equivalent to kind- (Old English gecynd offspring; see kind²) + -el -le

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for kindle

ignite, inflame, awaken, rouse, inspire, arouse, whet, sharpen, provoke, stir, stimulate, foment, fire, light, burn, flame, blaze, flare, glow, thrill

Examples from the Web for kindle

Contemporary Examples of kindle

There will be an issue of the New York Times and magazines, an iPhone and Kindle, metro cards and subway maintenance signs.
New York’s Century-Old Time Capsule Is a Dud
Justin Jones
October 8, 2014
You can download the Kindle App for free on your desktop or laptop computer, smart phone or tablet.
The Stacks: The Day ‘The Big Lebowski’ Came to Life
Alex Belth
July 26, 2014
Mostly now on kindle, because it's so much easier to read more than one book at the same time.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Literary Lagos
Henry Krempels
March 16, 2014
If you want to kindle the memories of the war, you will find such reminders everywhere—even in the unlikeliest of places.
Going Back to Vietnam Is Sometimes Amusing, Often Fraught, and Always Surreal
Jeff Greenfield
March 9, 2014
They then kindle fire, ground corn, prepare dinner and lunch for the next day.
The ‘12 Years a Slave’ Book Shows Slavery As Even More Appalling Than In the Film
Jimmy So
October 18, 2013

Historical Examples of kindle

Kindle the light of the light-house, and it has nothing to do, except to shine.
Malbone
Thomas Wentworth Higginson
They have coal, but even the wood to kindle the coal is imported.
The Long Labrador Trail
Dillon Wallace
All their explanations only served to kindle anew their anger.
Doctor Pascal
Emile Zola
But all his efforts to kindle the fire were in vain; the wood only smoked.
Byzantine Churches in Constantinople
Alexander Van Millingen
She had a twinge of pity, watching the old faces pale and kindle.
Stories of a Western Town
Octave Thanet

British Dictionary definitions for kindle

kindle

verb

to set alight or start to burn

to arouse or be arousedthe project kindled his interest

to make or become bright

Derived Formskindler, noun

Word Origin for kindle

C12: from Old Norse kynda, influenced by Old Norse kyndill candle

Kindle

noun

trademark a portable electronic device for downloading and reading books

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

Word Origin and History for kindle

c.1200, cundel, "to set fire to, to start on fire," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse kynda "to kindle, to light a fire," Swedish quindla "kindle," of uncertain origin, + frequentative suffix -le. Figurative use from c.1300. Intransitive sense "to begin to burn, to catch fire" is from c.1400. Related: Kindled; kindling.

Influenced in form, and sometimes in Middle English in sense, with kindel "to give birth" (of animals), "bring forth, produce" (c.1200), from kindel (n.) "offspring of an animal, young one," from Old English gecynd (see kind (n.)) + -el.