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.
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
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 • Oct. 21, 2025
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
The saganaki here is quite delicious and of course served in a theatrical manner, set on fire tableside with shouts of opa!
From Salon • Sep. 3, 2025
They said in the village that whenever Capricorn had a house set on fire Basta took away a brick or stone, even though he feared fire at other times, and clearly that story was true.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
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.
