catch fire


Be ignited, as in This wood is dry enough to catch fire. [c. 1600] Also see set on fire.

Words Nearby catch fire

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use catch fire in a sentence

  • In pushing splinters under his toenails, the lamp was upset, kerosene was spilled over his feet to catch fire.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney
  • Green and wet as these are, they at once catch fire and flame up like kindling-wood.

    The Land of Fire | Mayne Reid
  • Nancy felt that if she went on flushing any more her hair would catch fire.

    The Devourers | Annie Vivanti Chartres
  • Once catch fire, big flame run through forest, burn miles and miles.

    Condemned as a Nihilist | George Alfred Henty
  • All at once I saw sparks flying out of the tree, which proved that it was beginning to catch fire inside.