touchwood

[ tuhch-wood ]

noun
  1. wood converted into an easily ignitible substance by the action of certain fungi, and used as tinder; punk.

  2. Mycology. amadou.

Origin of touchwood

1
First recorded in 1570–80; touch + wood1

Words Nearby touchwood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use touchwood in a sentence

  • After a time, in place of the touchwood, tinder was used, which was made by scorching old linen handkerchiefs.

  • “No—no—d—n it—no,” said touchwood, extremely angry at his disaster, and the cause of it.

    St. Ronan's Well | Sir Walter Scott
  • Since Tyrrel's departure, no one pretends to guess what old touchwood will do with his money.

    St. Ronan's Well | Sir Walter Scott
  • I guess we shall have to put a new bottom into her, for most of her planks are as rotten as touchwood.

    In the Wilds of Florida | W.H.G. Kingston
  • These men and horses and the gun were put on board this big tinder-box, all fire and touchwood.

    Pictures of Southern Life | William Howard Russell

British Dictionary definitions for touchwood

touchwood

/ (ˈtʌtʃˌwʊd) /


noun
  1. something, esp dry wood or fungus material such as amadou, used as tinder

Origin of touchwood

1
C16: touch (in the sense: to kindle) + wood 1

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