noun
-
wood suitable for making matches
-
splinters or fragments
the bomb blew the house to matchwood
Etymology
Origin of matchwood
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.
In the tiny village of Pidhaine, with an aging population of just 200 or so, a little library was smashed to matchwood.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 28, 2022
“I can’t remember the last time I ate chicken or coconut milk,” Peiris said, sitting inside his half-finished house while his five employees idly sorted matchwood in the yard.
From Washington Post • Apr. 17, 2022
Many a building was blown to matchwood because of leaking gas.
From New York Times • Feb. 15, 2017
The on-loan striker brushed opponents aside like they were matchwood, surged forward as unstoppably as a tidal bore, set up one goal, blasted home another.
From The Guardian • Sep. 2, 2010
“Hi! P'leeceman,” he said, “that’s my ’orse what she’s sitting on, same as it's my cab what she’s made matchwood of.”
From "The Magician's Nephew" by C. S. Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
