wildfire

[wahyld-fahy^uhr]

noun

1. any large fire in brush, forests, or open spaces that spreads rapidly and is hard to extinguish.

2. a highly flammable composition, such as Greek fire, difficult to extinguish when ignited, formerly used in warfare.

3. sheet lightning, unaccompanied by thunder.

4. the ignis fatuus or a similar light.

5. Plant Pathology.,  a disease of tobacco and soybeans, characterized by brown, necrotic spots, each surrounded by a yellow band, on the leaves and caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas tabaci.

6. Pathology Obsolete.,  erysipelas or some similar disease.

wildfire

/ ˈwaɪldˌfaɪə /

noun

1. a highly flammable material, such as Greek fire, formerly used in warfare

2. 1. a raging and uncontrollable fire

   2. anything that is disseminated quickly (esp in the phrase spread like wildfire )

3. lightning without audible thunder

4. another name for will-o'-the-wisp

Word History and Origins

Origin of wildfire¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English wildefire, Old English wildfȳr; equivalent to wild + fire

Idioms and Phrases

see spread like wildfire.

Example Sentences

“For example, there are massive projects in California to bury power lines because we’ve all seen the risk and disruption related to wildfires. That has nothing to do with AI.”

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The day before this stop at Warner Chappell, Leadon visited the location of his former home, now a ruin from this year’s apocalyptic wildfires.

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“What’s happening across Los Angeles County is an emergency. It may not be a wildfire or an earthquake, but it is a man-made emergency — created by our own federal government,” Hahn said in the release.

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The Legislature extended the program by 15 years to 2045, rebranded it as “cap-and-invest” and specified how its revenues will be allocated for wildfire prevention efforts, high-speed rail and other projects.

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If another storm arrives in the next few weeks it could stave off the wildfire season even further, Ralph said.

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Related Words

• blaze 
• conflagration 
• flare 
• flash 
• light 
• spark