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Kindle: Definition

By

Elissa Bassist

•

From Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: kin·dle

Pronunciation: \ˈkin-dəl\

Function: verb

Etymology: Middle English, probably modification of Old Norse kynda; akin to Old High German cuntesal fire

Date: 13th century

Definition (1): transitive verb: to start (a fire) burning : light

The temperature at which books kindle: Fahrenheit 451

Definition (2): noun: Amazon.com’s Wireless Reading Device


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Elissa Bassist
Elissa Bassist edits the Funny Women column and teaches humor writing. Her next class is “How to Write a Comedic Memoir” on 3/30. She wrote Hysterical, a semi-finalist for The Thurber Prize for American humor, and is co-writing Inside Jokes: A Comedy and Creativity Guide for All Writers with Caitlin Kunkel (out in 2026). Her newsletter is Tragedy Plus Time.

4 responses

  1. Danny Bloom Avatar
    Danny Bloom

    kindle as a verb?

  2. Danny Bloom Avatar
    Danny Bloom

    Urban Dictionary – ”to kindle” has been accepted and published

  3. Danny Bloom Avatar
    Danny Bloom

    can you add this new def to your page? thanks

    danny in Taiwan, really really

  4. danny bloom Avatar
    danny bloom

    and interesting,,,,notice how MC says “it was a pleasure to FIND its name”…..not it was a pleasure to NAME it or coin the name….but to FIND ITS NAME, as if his work, his team, was to FIND the name that was inside the machine all the time and what they had to do was use their intution and creativity to FIND the name inside the device and they found it and told the world, it’s a KINDLE……interesting, neh?

    danny

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