Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To catch fire; burst into flame: The fire started when a pile of oily rags spontaneously combusted.
- v. To undergo combustion; burn: As the fuels were combusting they gave off noxious vapors.
- v. To become suddenly angry or agitated: The defendant combusted when he heard the verdict.
- v. To cause to burn; ignite.
- v. To cause to become angry or violent: riots that are combusting whole provinces.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Burnt.
- Hence In astronomy, so near the sun as to be obscured by it, or not more than 8½° from it.
- To inflame with excitement and agitation.
- To burn up or consume with fire.
Wiktionary
- v. To burn; to catch fire.
- adj. obsolete Burnt.
- adj. astrology In close conjunction with the sun (so that its astrological influence is "burnt up"), sometimes specified to be within 8 degrees 30'.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Burnt; consumed.
- adj. (Astron.), obsolete So near the sun as to be obscured or eclipsed by his light, as the moon or planets when not more than eight degrees and a half from the sun.
WordNet 3.0
- v. start to burn or burst into flames
- v. cause to burn or combust
- v. get very angry and fly into a rage
- v. cause to become violent or angry
- v. undergo combustion
Etymologies
- From Latin combūstus. (Wiktionary)
- Back-formation from combustion. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The heat necessary to combust is created by the high compression ratio.”
Sustainable Design Update » Blog Archive » “A 330 mpg car for everyone”
“Now, Eugene, wouldn’t it be much more fun for us to sit back and wait for it to spontaneously combust from the flammable gases?”
Think Progress » Drilling Is Not The Solution To Create Jobs And Reduce Reliance On Foreign Oil
“If a pile rises to 160 degrees or more it could spontaneously combust, which is why the zoo is acquiring a thermometer to measure internal temperature of its manure piles.”
“It is thus BETTER FOR YET ANOTHER KIND OF REASON AS WELL to NOT directly "combust" it --- but, rather, to use it CLOSED-CYCLE to energize fuel cells that then drive electric motors.”
“It is thus generally much BETTER to NOT directly "combust" the hydrogen --- but, rather, to use it CLOSED-CYCLE to energize FUEL CELLS which will then DRIVE ELECTRIC MOTORS.”
“One can only hope that they just combust in a big puff of hot air at some point and leave the rest of us alone! victim of republican greed”
“Not only was Isabella spectacularly pretty, with a body that a man would happily die for and a touch that had made him feel as if he was going to spontaneously combust, she was also a theater person.”
“I am of a serious mind to run against Congressman Weiner to highlight the broken state of American manhood and how we must finally address it rather than watch more decent men combust.”
The Huffington Post: Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: Anthony Weiner and Why Powerful Men Self-Destruct
“Woo hooo! tap the fire hydrant and hose me down. otherwise i might self combust! it's too much excitement to bear.”
“Lick ya, lick ya down" like he's about to combust.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘combust’.
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henryar's list
marmoleum, menagerie, cyan, ochre, pilfer, discombobulate, loquacious, iridescent, amethyst, derelict, botulism, equilibrium and 240 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11250 more...
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Fire
Words describing or related to fire.
burn, blaze, brand, sizzle, scorch, char, crisp, crackle, kindle, flame, inferno, pyre and 27 more...
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What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
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Spelling Bee list 2011
Abalone, ablution, absolution, aboriginally, abstemious, academician, acclamation, accommodation, acculturation, acetic, acetone, acme and 590 more...
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amsstory's list
pretentious, delectable, egomaniacal, lionize, titillate, nebulous, obfuscation, ostentatious, wry, precipice, ethereal, echo and 150 more...
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is this all there is
this is it
dillema, destruction, conundrum, proxy, spurious, usurp, divulge, vapid, lucid, malicious, ubseqious, burden and 75 more...
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sneakerpimp's Words
prepubescent, imp, amicable, ephemeral, palpable, bourgeoisie, proletariat, vouch, cunnilingus, gynophagia, gynotikolobomasso..., portmanteau and 12 more...
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Fire Bad!
immolate, incinerate, scorch, cauterize, combust, cremate, deflagrate, ignite, smolder, blaze, kindle, torch and 18 more...
Tweets
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