lucifer

(abbreviation, alt of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of lucifer match, sulfur or phosphorus friction matches.

The invention of the Lucifer Match has brought with it many dangers. In one year, in London, there were published thirty-nine accounts of serious conflagrations through children playing with lucifers, the igniting of the matches, and the careless use of them... To guard against the recurrence of these sad results has been invented "the Safety Match," or a match which cannot ignite by friction with ordinary substances...