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.
The court heard a Toyota once owned by Sir Keir was set on fire in a street in north London in May last year.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
Electronic tchotchkes are ubiquitous but many people have little or no access to nutritious food or health care as our environment is run through a meat grinder and set on fire.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2026
Persian-language TV channels based outside Iran also posted images of a statue of Soleimani in the central city of Kashan being set on fire.
From Barron's ● Jan. 8, 2026
Not much mention is made of Alexandria’s library—first set on fire accidentally by Julius Caesar and damaged fatally over the ensuing years—or its epic lighthouse, one of the fabled Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
My face felt like it had been set on fire.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
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.
