catch fire

catch fire
verb
start to burn or burst into flames (Freq. 1)
-

Marsh gases ignited suddenly

-

The oily rags combusted spontaneously

• Syn: ↑erupt, ↑ignite, ↑take fire, ↑combust, ↑conflagrate
• Derivationally related forms: ↑combustible (for: ↑combust), ↑combustive (for: ↑combust), ↑ignitible (for: ↑ignite), ↑ignitable (for: ↑ignite), ↑ignition (for: ↑ignite)
• Hypernyms: ↑change state, ↑turn
• Hyponyms: ↑blow out, ↑catch, ↑light up
• Verb Group: ↑burn, ↑combust
• Verb Frames:
-

Something ——s

* * *

IGNITE, catch light, burst into flames, go up in flames.
→ fire

* * *

phrasal
1. : to become ignited

the barn roof is thought to have caught fire from flying sparks from a passing locomotive

2. : to become fired with enthusiasm

the poet caught fire from the philosopher's talk

3. : to increase greatly in scope, interest, or effectiveness

the movie really catches fire — Time

his imagination caught fire — Dorothy C. Fisher

* * *

catch fire
● catch

* * *

catch fire phrase
to start burning

The car overturned and caught fire.

Thesaurus: to burn, or to start a firesynonym
Main entry: fire

* * *

I
become ignited and burn
II
begin to burn
■ figurative become interesting or exciting

the show never caught fire

* * *

catch fire
1 or US catch on fire : to begin to burn

Newspaper catches fire [=ignites] easily.

Their house caught fire and burned to the ground.

Don't leave the towel on the stove. It could catch fire.

2 : to become very popular or effective

The idea failed to catch fire.

The singer hasn't caught fire in this country yet.

a new technology that has caught fire with the public

• • •
Main Entry: ↑catch

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • catch fire — ► catch fire begin to burn. Main Entry: ↑fire …   English terms dictionary

  • catch fire — index burn Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • catch fire — it was amazing that neither of the adjoining buildings caught fire Syn: ignite, catch light, burst into flames, go up in flames …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • catch fire — {v. phr.} 1. To begin to burn. * /When he dropped a match in the leaves, they caught fire./ 2. To become excited. * /The audience caught fire at the speaker s words and began to cheer./ * /His imagination caught fire as he read./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • catch fire — {v. phr.} 1. To begin to burn. * /When he dropped a match in the leaves, they caught fire./ 2. To become excited. * /The audience caught fire at the speaker s words and began to cheer./ * /His imagination caught fire as he read./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • catch\ fire — v. phr. 1. To begin to burn. When he dropped a match in the leaves, they caught fire. 2. To become excited. The audience caught fire at the speaker s words and began to cheer. His imagination caught fire as he read …   Словарь американских идиом

  • catch fire — Syn: ignite, catch light, burst into flames, go up in flames …   Synonyms and antonyms dictionary

  • catch fire — phrasal 1. to become ignited 2. to become fired with enthusiasm 3. to increase greatly in scope, popularity, interest, or effectiveness < this stock has not caught fire yet Forbes > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • catch fire — take fire, blaze, go up in flames …   English contemporary dictionary

  • catch fire — begin to burn. → fire …   English new terms dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”