set on fire
Idioms-
Also, set fire to . Cause to ignite and burn, as in The drought and high wind combined to set the woods on fire . [c. 1400]
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Cause to become excited, as in The music set the audience on fire . Also see catch fire ; set the world on fire .
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.
Masli responded by dreaming up a ritual involving a sock that was set on fire in symbolic purgation of burdensome resentments.
From Los Angeles Times
True to the festival’s name, every structure at Burning Man is temporary, as many buildings, along with the effigy, are set on fire by the end of the festival.
From Salon
One production hired a tank, while in another a mock police car was set on fire.
From BBC
The rest run through solitary experiments in chemistry, physics and explosives: A hydrogen balloon is set on fire.
From Los Angeles Times
"There's only so many times that I was going to go through every fall of worrying about what is going to set on fire, if I was going to lose a house."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
