matchwood

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   wood reduced to small splinters, especially by violent damage

   The fallen beam smashed the old chair into matchwood.

2. 2
   noun

   wood suitable for making matchsticks

   The mill once processed soft timber into matchwood.

Formed from match + wood. Its literal industrial sense is wood for matches; the common expression smash or reduce to matchwood compares shattered timber with match-sized splinters.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary