MATCHWOOD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does matchwood mean? 

• MATCHWOOD (noun)
  The noun MATCHWOOD has 3 senses:

1. wood in small pieces or splinters

2. wood suitable for making matchsticks

3. fragments of wood

  Familiarity information: MATCHWOOD used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MATCHWOOD (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wood in small pieces or splinters

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

matchwood; splinters

Context example:

the vessel was beaten to matchwood on the rocks

Hypernyms ("matchwood" is a kind of...):

wood (the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Wood suitable for making matchsticks

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("matchwood" is a kind of...):

wood (the hard fibrous lignified substance under the bark of trees)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fragments of wood

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Context example:

it was smashed into matchwood

Hypernyms ("matchwood" is a kind of...):

bit; chip; flake; fleck; scrap (a small fragment of something broken off from the whole)

 Context examples 

One of them knocked Summerlee's rifle to matchwood and the next would have crushed his skull had an Indian not stabbed the beast to the heart.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A case of cartridges had been shattered into matchwood, and one of the brass shells lay shredded into pieces beside it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The chair went to matchwood at the bottom, and we rolled apart into the gutter.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)