Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To catch fire; burst into flame.
  • intransitive verb To undergo combustion; burn.
  • intransitive verb To become suddenly angry or agitated.
  • intransitive verb To cause to burn; ignite.
  • intransitive verb To cause to become angry or violent.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To inflame with excitement and agitation.
  • Burnt.
  • Hence In astronomy, so near the sun as to be obscured by it, or not more than 8½° from it.
  • To burn up or consume with fire.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective obsolete Burnt; consumed.
  • adjective (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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To burn; to catch fire.
  • adjective obsolete Burnt.
  • adjective astrology In close conjunction with the sun (so that its astrological influence is "burnt up"), sometimes specified to be within 8 degrees 30'.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb start to burn or burst into flames
  • verb cause to burn or combust
  • verb get very angry and fly into a rage
  • verb cause to become violent or angry
  • verb undergo combustion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Back-formation from combustion.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin combūstus.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word combust.

Examples

  • The heat necessary to combust is created by the high compression ratio.

    Sustainable Design Update » Blog Archive » “A 330 mpg car for everyone” 2007

  • 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 2010

  • 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.

    STLtoday.com Top News Headlines 2010

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

  • 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.

    Propeller Most Popular Stories 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.