Kindle Meaning
/ˈkɪn.dəl/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo start (a fire) or light (a torch, a match, coals, etc.).
verbTo arouse or inspire (a passion, etc).
Sentence Examples
Will you buy a Kindle, a Nook or a Kobo eReader?
My mother is a whiz on her Kindle.
Corn cobs can be used to kindle a fire.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used dry leaves and matches to ____ a fire in the forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They used some dry leaves and small twigs to ____ a small fire in the fireplace late last night.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English kyndelen, from Old Norse kynda (“to inflame”), from Proto-Germanic *kundijaną.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"If a person kindle a fire in the house of another person, let him pay for the house to the owner, if it be burned."
— 1841, Ancient Laws and Institutes of Wales, page 336:
"And then it was that I first perceived the danger in which I stood; for there was no hope of kindling a light, and I doubted now whether even in the light I could ever have done much to dislodge the great slab of slate."
— [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, “In the Vault”, in Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC, page 65:
"Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame."
— 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
"A Svveet diſorder in the dreſſe / Kindles in cloathes a vvantonneſſe: […]"
— 1648, Robert Herrick, “Delight in Disorder”, in Hesperides: Or, The Works both Humane & Divine […], London: […] John Williams, and Francis Eglesfield, and are to be sold by Tho[mas] Hunt, […], →OCLC, page 29:
"Let the young perish in their hour of promise—how much will they be spared!—passion, that kindles but to consume the heart, and leaves either vacancy or regret, a ruin or a desert;..."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 159:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He used dry leaves and matches to ____ a fire in the forest.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
They used some dry leaves and small twigs to ____ a small fire in the fireplace late last night.