reignite

British  

/ ˌriːɪɡˈnaɪt /

verb

1. to catch fire or cause to catch fire again

   the burners reignited

2. to flare up or cause to flare up again

   to reignite the war

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Explanation

To reignite something is to light it on fire again. If you want to reignite your campfire after pouring a pail of water on it, you'll have to find some dry wood. You can literally reignite things like gas stoves, birthday candles, or sparklers if their flames have been extinguished. You can also figuratively reignite something by making it flare up in some way: "The release of the balloons at the end of the rally was sure to reignite the crowd's excitement." This word adds the "again" prefix re- to ignite, from the Latin root ignis, "fire."

Example Sentences

Jitesh Ubrani, IDC’s research manager for worldwide device trackers, attributes that outlook to high prices and the absence of major functionality breakthroughs that could reignite growth.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

It generates some of the highest average unit volumes in the industry and management is investing heavily in its menu, loyalty programs, and marketing to reignite traffic growth.

From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026

Seven minutes later, the massive rocket booster that blasted the craft towards space starts falling back to Earth – until its engines reignite as planned.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

Makers and sellers of clothing and sneakers have churned out new products in an effort to reignite demand, and retailers over the years have tried to take steps to make their physical stores more welcoming.

From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026

Eventually the sons would arrive at a new transitory order and reignite the sun, letting existence begin anew.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann