Recent Examples on the WebFor four years, Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric found little kindling.—Liana Fix, Foreign Affairs, 22 Mar. 2024 Other is the kindling that fuels extremism and illiberalism.—Alli Rosenbloom, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024 In Richard Roper’s capable hands, the search becomes so much more – a kindling of confidence, a step down new paths.—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Feb. 2024 Whatever facile pretext has made sociology kindling for a firestorm does not have the features of a real debate.—Carol J. Petty, Baltimore Sun, 2 Feb. 2024 Thankfully, evening chores still carried on as normal: the chopping of kindling, and spreading sacks of sand over pathways to dry out the mud.—Hazlitt, 24 Jan. 2024 For generations, Indigenous people feasted on the nuts, split the wood for kindling, and laced the leaves into their medicine.—Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 24 Dec. 2023 Some backstory is also needed, as the kindling to this absurd outcome starts with the Democrats.—TIME, 6 Feb. 2024 Your Team Pizza can gather kindling and chop wood, stretch pizza dough, make sauce or prep toppings or aim an infrared thermo gun (sold separately), to check the temperature.—Leslie Yazel, wsj.com, 23 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'kindling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
: the electrophysiological changes that occur in the brain as a result of repeated intermittent exposure to a subthreshold electrical or chemical stimulus (as one causing seizures) so that there develops a usually permanent decrease in the threshold of excitability
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