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Synonyms

fan the flames

Idioms  

  1. Intensify or stir up feelings; exacerbate an explosive situation. For example, She already found him attractive, but his letters really fanned the flames, or His speech fanned the flames of racial dissension.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And both have digital armies to fan the flames of an online feud: Musk a legion of Tesla-obsessed fans and O’Leary a ragtag group of early-career social-media managers in Ireland, infamous for having the freedom to tease and offend—including their passengers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Maybe their similarities fan the flames.

From Barron's

Maybe their similarities fan the flames.

From Barron's

“We can — we must — speak out loudly, urgently, but also peacefully. We cannot fan the flames of chaos. That’s what he wants,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times

It prompted the president of the National Electoral Council, Ana Paola Hall, to warn all parties "not to fan the flames of confrontation or violence".

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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