to catch fire

Examples

• All

• Why has this idea just not caught fire at all here in the United States?

  Academic text (1996)

• One night, the building caught fire, and my Johnny tried to put it out.

  Fiction book (2001)

• One of the engines caught fire.

  The Purple Plain (1954)

• Later, they lost more supplies when their camp caught fire, and they had to leave boxes behind.

  Academic text (2007)

• I was seven the year the house caught fire, probably from standing ash.

  Fiction book (1990)

• A ferry caught fire as it came to dock.

  Young Woman and the Sea (2024)

• And the car caught fire, and he got trapped in the wreck.

  Terrifier 2 (2022)

• That bush in the front yard, if it catches fire tonight, you will let me know?

  Mank (2020)

• Dead leaves, paper dust and oil stains on and around the engine can catch fire.

  Oh, Ramona! (2019)

• The dry kindling immediately caught fire, and the moist twigs began to smoke.

  Fiction book (1996)

Synonyms

B

to burn

vsto catch fire

∞ 1.0

To be on fire or damage something with heat

is specifically about a sudden start of burning rather than general burning

I

to ignite

vsto catch fire

66 4.0

To make something start burning

is the sudden start of burning itself rather than focusing on causing it

C

to combust

vsto catch fire

8 7.4

To catch fire or make something burn

focuses on starting to burn suddenly rather than also causing it

B

to burn up

vsto catch fire

3 4.6

To light up suddenly with a strong flame or bright light

describes the sudden start of burning without focusing on brightness level

F

to flame up

vsto catch fire

1 4.6

To suddenly start burning strongly or become much more intense

is limited to the literal sudden start of burning rather than figurative use

T

to take fire

vsto catch fire

1 4.8

Start burning and produce flames

expresses the same sudden start but is the more general phrasing

B

to blaze up

vsto catch fire

1 4.9

To start burning with a strong bright flame

means a sudden start of burning without stressing brightness or intensity

C

to conflagrate

vsto catch fire

9.9

To catch fire suddenly

is the same sudden start of burning rather than a caused ignition

A

to alit

vsto catch fire

• Archaic

9.9

To start to burn suddenly and brightly

is the general sudden start of burning without stressing visibility

I

ignited

vsto catch fire

3.5

Set on fire so it is burning

describes the sudden start of burning itself, not the caused state

Antonyms

E

to extinguish

23 4.4

Stop a fire, candle, or other light from burning

D

to douse

20 5.1

To stop a fire or light from burning

How Intense

engulfed in flames

5 5.4

to catch fire

32 2.6

to smolder

• US

18 6.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

Etymology