feed the fire
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to add fuel to a situation, making it more intense or extreme
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
kích động một tình huống, làm cho nó trở nên gay gắt hơn
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to provide fuel for a fire
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The politician's comments only served to feed the fire of public outrage
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “feed the fire” mean?
to add fuel to a situation, making it more intense or extreme Literally: to provide fuel for a fire
Is “feed the fire” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.