Matches are small wooden sticks you strike to make a flame. A box of matches, strike a match, safety matches.
Safety matches split the chemistry between the head and the striking strip, so they will only light on the box — which is why they are safe and why a lost box is a nuisance. Early phosphorus matches poisoned the women who made them, and the strike-anywhere kind came later.
1nounmatchesSmall sticks struck to make a flame.
“We couldn't light the fire because the matches had got wet.”
matches is a fire-starting tool.
Also accepted in games: match