slow match

American  

noun

1. a slow-burning match or fuse, often consisting of a rope or cord soaked in a solution of saltpeter.

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slow match British  

noun

1. a match or fuse that burns slowly without flame, esp a wick impregnated with potassium nitrate

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Etymology

Origin of slow match

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

While he slept, a spark must have lit the powder bag—a spark from someone’s pipe or from the slow match on someone’s musket.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

He shows us how to keep the slow match burning by blowing the ash off of it every few minutes, and how to use it to ignite the gunpowder.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

To the base of the balloon, when inflated, a piece of slow match, five feet long, was attached, its lower end being lighted.

From Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal; or, Eighteen Months in the Polar Regions, in Search of Sir John Franklin's Expedition, in the Years 1850-51 by Osborn, Sherard

In the confusion and panic of the moment, the Vincennes was abandoned by her captain, who left a slow match burning.

From Memoirs of Service Afloat, During the War Between the States by Semmes, Raphael

He then bored a hole in the middle of the block, into which he rammed a charge of gunpowder, and having lighted it by a slow match, retired to a distance.

From The Mines and its Wonders by Kingston, William Henry Giles