1. a small box containing dry material for starting a fire
Usage: historical
2. a place or situation that could easily become dangerous or violent
Usage: figurative

Examples

• The old tinderbox contained flint, steel, and charred cloth.
• Sailors kept their tinderboxes dry to ensure they could start fires.
• The disputed region became a political tinderbox.
• Tensions in the neighborhood created a social tinderbox.
• The drought turned the forest into a tinderbox.
• One spark could ignite the tinderbox of ethnic conflict.