five-alarm
Americanadjective
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of or relating to an extremely destructive or intense fire.
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of or relating to something that is remarkable or intense, especially of food that is very spicy.
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.
“I’ve been quoted as describing the situation as a five-alarm fire.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
“Missing a monthly payment is a five-alarm fire” where something has to go deeply wrong in a person’s financial situation, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
Authorities declared a five-alarm fire -- the highest level -- as night fell.
From Barron's ● Nov. 26, 2025
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.
From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2025
A five-alarm fire has broken out in the Parietal region.
From The Brain by Alexander Blade
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
