five-alarm

[fahyv-uh-lahrm]

adjective

1. of or relating to an extremely destructive or intense fire.

2. of or relating to something that is remarkable or intense, especially of food that is very spicy.

Example Sentences

One would think that this would be a five-alarm fire for the anti-abortion movement, which claims that each of these embryos is a life equivalent to a born child, and certainly to an aborted fetus.

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But those five-alarm warnings are still important and necessary, if only to maintain an historical record of dissent should we manage to emerge from this dark time with some shell of our nation intact.

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The Dodger bullpen is a five-alarm fire, an unmitigated disaster, a total catastrophe.

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“Use whatever analogy you want to use — this is a five-alarm fire,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics’ infectious-disease committee.

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"It's obviously beyond that New World screwworm sterile barrier and so essentially, you're finding an insect in areas where it should not be found, and this is one that can cause tremendous harm to livestock, to wildlife and to humans. So it's a huge public health issue. It's an animal health issue, it's a health security issue ... That's a five-alarm fire. It needs to be jumped on and taken care of promptly," Bogoch explained.

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