to set aflame
1
5.1
- phrasal verb
:
incendiar
- There was no gasoline spilled and set aflame; there wasn't a hot exhaust pipe pinned down on my leg; no batteries short-circuited.
Examples
-
The fireworks display was so close that stray sparks set aflame the dry grass.
-
Then he took a match and set the birds aflame.
Fiction book (1993) -
My leige and innocent wife, being lashed to rear and set aflame!
-
When the sun rose, it would hit the water and set the world aflame—the fine and glorious conflagration of the day.
Fiction book (1998) -
This chapter ends dramatically with Damon on a mountaintop, setting the dossier aflame and shouting to a helicopter, "this is what you wanted?"
Blog text (9) -
At another point, as the man wails in pain, the Sheikh pours lighter fluid on the man's testicles and sets them aflame.
Blog text (9) -
If serving duck to the king, a host might want to shred orange rind over the bird's skin, then pour a jigger or two of brandy on the platter and set it aflame.
Fiction book (1998) -
The arsonist used gasoline to set aflame the abandoned warehouse.
-
As the candle burns down, it may accidentally set aflame the nearby paper.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To be on fire or damage something with heat
110
3.0
Make something start burning
76
6.5
To set fire to something on purpose
66
4.0
To make something start burning
17
1.0
To burn something to destroy it
8
7.4
To catch fire or make something burn
5
4.8
To make something start burning
4
3.7
To make wood, paper, or other material start to burn
2
4.1
Make something start to burn
1
4.2
To make something start burning
1
5.7
To make something start burning, for example paper or dry grass
Set on fire so it is burning
To set fire to something
To make something start to burn, like a fire or a strong feeling
Antonyms
How Intense
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to cause something to catch fire' is directly and compositionally derived from combining 'set' (to initiate or cause) with 'aflame' (burning). This verb + adjective construction follows regular English composition patterns and has clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase set aflame comes from the simple picture of someone lighting something so it begins to burn. Because set means to make something happen and aflame means 'on fire', set aflame means 'to cause something to catch fire'.