spread like wildfire
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As avian flu spread like wildfire through the industry, poultry farmers were forced to cull 26 million birds, leading prices to skyrocket.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
Social media videos featuring entrepreneurs power washing and vacuuming car interiors have spread like wildfire, leading some young people facing a challenging job market to start their own car detailing businesses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
In the 2000s, the song spread like wildfire on file-sharing sites like Napster and Kazaa but, until now, The Stones had refused to clear it for commercial release.
From BBC ● Dec. 10, 2025
It’s unclear when the video was made, but it emerged and spread like wildfire on social media after a Fox News reporter, citing unnamed sources, said it had triggered a federal probe into the politician.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025
“The deed was done and word of what Prentisstown had done spread like wildfire, starting with the few who’d managed to escape. All men from Prentisstown were declared criminals. We couldn’t leave.”
From "The Knife of Never Letting Go" by Patrick Ness
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.
