matchstick
Americannoun
-
matchsticks
plural
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a short, slender piece of flammable wood used in making matches.
-
something that suggests a matchstick, as in thinness or fragility.
noun
adjective
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made with or as if with matchsticks
a matchstick model
-
(esp of figures drawn with single strokes) thin and straight
matchstick men
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of matchstick
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.
See Examples For:
This weekend, LS Lowry will also be added to the list when a new, free immersive experience brings his trademark matchstick men to life at Salford's Lowry arts centre.
From BBC ● May 1, 2025
Over and over again, they stretch out their spindly little matchstick fingers into the mighty Pacific, and over and over again, they get their knuckles rapped.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024
“Walk Ventura’s beaches and, in the distance, it wavers like a child’s matchstick project,” the bureau states on its website.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 1, 2024
According to the historian Louise Raw, matchstick makers’ struggle for safer working conditions helped galvanize the modern trade union movement.
From New York Times ● Nov. 4, 2022
Their Dad did a trick for George with a matchstick and a handkerchief.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
Working in batches, use your hands to dip a handful of zucchini matchsticks in the batter, then place them in a heated pan with the oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
The first is a savory dip for vegetables — lately carrot and cucumber matchsticks or sugar snap peas.
From Salon ● Mar. 9, 2026
Her log house is on a hill in the woods, away from the lakefront homes that collapsed like matchsticks in the hurricane.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
Realising that the most annoying part of the job was going to be shaving off hundreds of thousands of bits of sulphur from individual matchsticks, he contacted the match manufacturer.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2024
He and his sister mimic the Frenchman’s experiments; they make speedboats out of matchsticks and magnets out of sewing needles.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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