matchstick

[ mach-stik ]

noun

1. a short, slender piece of flammable wood used in making matches. match.
2. something that suggests a matchstick, as in thinness or fragility.

matchstick

/ ˈmætʃˌstɪk /

noun

1. the wooden part of a match

adjective

1. made with or as if with matchsticks

   a matchstick model

2. (esp of figures drawn with single strokes) thin and straight

   matchstick men

Word History and Origins

Origin of matchstick¹

First recorded in 1785–95; match ¹ + stick ¹

Example Sentences

Her log house is on a hill in the woods, away from the lakefront homes that collapsed like matchsticks in the hurricane.

From Los Angeles Times

The trees still standing are charred and warped like burnt matchsticks.

From BBC

Dark grey ash blankets the ground on hills encircling Varnavas, while pine trees have taken on the appearance of used matchsticks.

From BBC

Over and over again, they stretch out their spindly little matchstick fingers into the mighty Pacific, and over and over again, they get their knuckles rapped.

From Los Angeles Times

The driving sound has a way of meshing with Roberts’s spiky gestures in surprising ways: Elbows poke, hips swivel, the arms ignite the air like matchsticks.

From New York Times