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

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

“We will never back down in the face of any act that undermines China’s sovereignty and security. Those who play with fire on the question of Taiwan will burn themselves.”

From Seattle Times

"Those who play with fire on Taiwan will eventually get themselves burned."

From Reuters

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

“I came into this Congress concerned that Republicans would play with fire on the debt ceiling,” Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, said in an interview during one of the first 13 ballots.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• compromise
• defy
• endanger
• imperil
• jeopardize