Link Centre Dictionary

combust

com·bust

UK/kəmˈbʌst/ US/kʌˈmbʌst/ uncommon dated obsolete

verb

1.

cause to burn or combust

  • “The sun burned off the fog”
  • “We combust coal and other fossil fuels”
Synonyms
2.

start to burn or burst into flames

  • “Marsh gases ignited suddenly”
  • “The oily rags combusted spontaneously”
4.

cause to become violent or angry

  • “Riots combusted Pakistan after the U.S. air attacks on Afghanistan”
5.

undergo combustion

  • “Maple wood burns well”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English combust (“burnt”), from Middle French combust, from Latin combustus, the perfect passive participle of Latin combūrere (“to burn up, to burn away”, transitive), whence also English combure.

Phrases

  • spontaneously combust

Related words

Broader terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.