play with fire

Idioms  

1. Take part in a dangerous undertaking, as in You're playing with fire if you go behind his back and commit his department. Although the idea behind this metaphor is ancient, it was first recorded only in 1655.

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Example Sentences

When you play with fire, you normally get burnt.

From BBC

“If you’re going to play with fire that way, then you need to own the burn.”

From New York Times

“I know myself and I don’t want to play with fire any longer.”

From New York Times

The statement warned Mr. Stewart not to play with fire on the Taiwan issue, saying, “Those who play with fire will burn.”

From New York Times

Uninterested in spelling things out, Mysius relies on uncanny, elemental imagery — Julia is known to play with fire, literally, while Joanne routinely swims in frigid lake waters — to bring about a sense of the murky, primordial connections between mother, daughter, aunt and father.

From New York Times

Related Words

• compromise
• defy
• endanger
• imperil
• jeopardize