engulfed in flames
7
5.4
- idiom
- His mansion, which he had spent many thousands of dollars building and decorating according to the latest European fashions, was engulfed in flames.
- building engulfed in flames
- house engulfed in flames
- car engulfed in flames
Examples
-
I have just come from the Fasanenstrasse, where one of the most revered synagogues in Germany, is totally engulfed in flames.
-
As firefighters arrived, they found the old warehouse completely engulfed in flames.
-
The hospital room quickly became engulfed in flames.
Academic text (2000) -
A truck was engulfed in flames.
Blog text (17) -
Murphy enters to find the engine room engulfed in flames and black smoke.
Fiction book (2002) -
The Hummer was engulfed in flames.
-
As you can see, the hillside behind me is completely engulfed in flames.
-
Los Angeles County firefighters and sheriff's deputies arrived at the residence about 5 a.m. and found the home engulfed in flames, sheriff's spokeswoman Guillermina Saldana said.
Blog text (5) -
The building was engulfed in flames, leaving nothing but ashes behind.
-
During the fire, people watched in horror as the entire forest was engulfed in flames.
Synonyms
483
1.0
Burning with flames and smoke
133
1.0
Damaged by fire or very strong heat
29
6.9
Become completely destroyed or lost suddenly, often by fire
19
5.5
On fire or shining brightly with color
16
6.7
On fire or very full of strong feeling
11
6.1
Shining with light or small fire, for example candles
Antonyms
How On Fire
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'engulf' (to envelop or swallow up) combined with 'in flames' (on fire) yields the meaning 'surrounded or consumed by fire.' This mapping is predictable and follows common syntactic/semantic patterns (verb + in + noun) found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase engulfed in flames gives a clear picture of something suddenly surrounded and covered by fire. The verb engulfed means to be completely covered or surrounded, and flames are the burning parts you can see, so the phrase means 'completely surrounded or destroyed by fire'.