inferno

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“
It is believed the source of the inferno was a wood stove on the front porch that served as the home's heat source.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A place or condition suggestive of hell, especially with respect to human suffering or death: the inferno of battle.
  2. noun A place of fiery heat or destruction.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Yet they survived another night of inferno, and the gray of dawn found them still staggering and stumbling before the incredible ferocity of that eternal wind. —  Astounding Stories January, 1935
  • His Airacobra was set on fire and upon striking the ground was turned into a burning inferno, as was the pilot. —  Attack of the Airacobras - Soviet Aces, American P-39s and the Air War Against Germany
  • In that inferno, a twelve-year-old boy, trapped in an ISO protective suit far too large for him, screamed soundlessly, his breath misting the faceplate. —  Omni: Winter 1995
  • Through the hissing of hosepipes and the roaring crackle of the inferno, a child's voice could be heard, screaming 'MUMMY!' —  Also by Lynda La Plante
  • The saloon is an inferno, the deck like a collier's, and ourselves like sweeps. —  The Riddle of the Sands
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This word has been looked up 83 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian, hell, from Late Latin īnfernus; see infernal.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from Italian inferno, hell (the title and subject of one part of Dante's “Divina Commedia”), from Latin infernus, of the lower regions, inferna, the lower regions: see infernal.
 

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/ɪnˈfərnoʊ/
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