touchpaper
Britishnoun
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paper soaked in saltpetre and used for firing gunpowder
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to do something that will cause much anger or excitement
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.
Fear might have lit Ruben's touchpaper, but now everyone is standing too far back to stamp it out.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026
The touchpaper had been lit – and thankfully Ashe was now pretty much full to witness it.
From BBC • Sep. 7, 2025
With tennis academies springing up all over China, Wu could be the player to light the blue touchpaper.
From Reuters • Sep. 18, 2017
One of them, funnily enough, lit the touchpaper in front of Paul, who, after he left university, got a job with a high-flying London financier notorious for his constantly “revolving door” of temporary PAs.
From Salon • Oct. 13, 2012
Ashes, for soap; for salt; for saltpetre and touchpaper; bivouac in; in flooring; dressing skins.
From The Art of Travel Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries by Galton, Francis, Sir
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.
