spontaneous combustion

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noun

the ignition of a substance or body from the rapid oxidation of its own constituents without heat from any external source.

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Origin of spontaneous combustion

First recorded in 1800–10

Words nearby spontaneous combustion

sponsored content, sponsorship, spontaneity, spontaneous, spontaneous abortion, spontaneous combustion, spontaneous generation, spontaneously, spontaneous recovery, spontoon, spoof

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spontaneous combustion in a sentence

The premise of the sketch was that sex was too spontaneous to be regulated, and the quiz show played that idea to the hilt.
How Antioch College Got Rape Right 20 Years Ago|Nicolaus Mills|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Trying to be ordinary, plain-spoken, and spontaneous made it worse.
Why Does Everyone Hate Lea Michele?|Tim Teeman|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Gas-powered internal combustion engines were pretty much the only way to move a car from one place to another.
From the Model T to the Model S|The Daily Beast|September 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Odds against chance in a review of spontaneous telepathy studies have been calculated, Radin says, at “22 billion to 1.”
Knocking on Heaven's Door: True Stories of Unexplained, Uncanny Experiences at the Hour of Death|Patricia Pearson|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Israelis have also waged a psy-war on Hamas, albeit more informal and spontaneous.
Israel, Hamas, WhatsApp and Hacked Phones in the Gaza Psy-War|Itay Hod|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Perhaps his almost perfectly spontaneous love of tiny flowers is already a considerable advance on his so-called prototype.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Yet I think if we observe closely we shall detect traces of a spontaneous impulse towards self-adornment.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Spontaneous gaiety was gone out of his cousin, whose attempts to be his normal self became forced and unsuccessful.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
In a strict sense, of course, no child's drawing is absolutely spontaneous and independent of external stimulus and guidance.
Children's Ways|James Sully
As far as possible I have sought spontaneous drawings of quite young children, viz., from between two and three to about six.
Children's Ways|James Sully

British Dictionary definitions for spontaneous combustion

spontaneous combustion

noun

the ignition of a substance or body as a result of internal oxidation processes, without the application of an external source of heat, occurring in finely powdered ores, coal, straw, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for spontaneous combustion

spontaneous combustion

The bursting into flame of a mass of material as a result of chemical reactions within the substance, without the addition of heat from an external source. Oily rags and damp hay, for example, are subject to spontaneous combustion.

Cultural definitions for spontaneous combustion

spontaneous combustion

A process by which a collection of materials (such as oily rags) catches fire without the application of heat from outside. The oxidation of substances in the materials starts the fire.