Also: catch on fire
Meaning of Idiom ‘Catch Fire’
1. To catch fire means to be ignited; to start burning; to ignite and burn with flames. 1Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,2Spears, Richard A. McGraw-Hill’s American Idioms Dictionary. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2008.,3Definition of catch fire from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, Cambridge University Press
2. If an event, performance, artist, movement, idea, etc. catches fire, it becomes a subject of great interest and generates widespread enthusiasm and passion. 4Collins Cobuild. Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary. HarperCollins, 2012.,5Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
3. To become very enthusiastic or passionate about something. 6American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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Examples Of Use
“I left a pot on the stove too long and the kitchen caught on fire. Luckily I was able to put out the flames with the fire extinguisher.”
“Make sure you douse your campfire with water. You don’t want the woods to catch fire.”
“This wood is just too wet to catch fire.”
“I don’t like using candles. I’m always afraid the house will catch fire.”
“He was surprised when his new book caught fire with young audiences.”
“It’s a great idea but it’s not the kind of thing that’s going to catch fire. It needs more zing.”
“Once these vaccine conspiracy theories caught fire, there was no way to stop them.”
Origin
The original more literal idiom began around 1600. The more figurative version has been used since the early 1700s. 7Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
More Idioms Starting with C
More Catch Idioms
More Fire Idioms
- Add Fuel to the Fire
- Surefire
- Too Many Irons in the Fire
- Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire
- Hang Fire
- Go Down In Flames
- Flash in the Pan, a