lucifer match

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

We found this expedient a very poor substitute for the lucifer match, but it was certainly better than nothing at all.

From My Reminiscences of the Anglo-Boer War by Van Breda, P.

It was here that in 1829 he invented a lucifer match by adopting sulphur as the medium between the explosive material and the wood, but he refused to patent the invention.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 5 "Hinduism" to "Home, Earls of" by Various

To aid me, I lighted a lucifer match, and by its flickering glare I saw right in front of me that beautiful pale face, enclosed as it were in a frame by the little window.

From A Day's Ride A Life's Romance by Lever, Charles James

We were engaged in our last lecture in considering the various methods that have been adopted from early times for obtaining fire, and we left off at the invention of the lucifer match.

From The Story of a Tinder-box by Tidy, Charles Meymott

But for the purpose of studying a guide book in the dark, one lucifer match is worth a sky full of lightning.

From The Battle of Principles A Study of the Heroism and Eloquence of the Anti-Slavery Conflict by Hillis, Newell Dwight