wild fire
Preserved but no longer current.
A very old English description of a composition of inflammable materials that catch fire quickly. It is now used figura- tively in the phrase To catch like wildfire, to take on with the public instantaneously.
Một hỗn hợp vật liệu dễ cháy, bắt lửa nhanh, nay được sử dụng một cách ẩn dụ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “wild fire” mean?
A very old English description of a composition of inflammable materials that catch fire quickly. It is now used figura- tively in the phrase To catch like wildfire, to take on with the public instantaneously.
Is “wild fire” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.