IGNITE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ignite mean? 

• IGNITE (verb)
  The verb IGNITE has 4 senses:

1. cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat

2. start to burn or burst into flames

3. arouse or excite feelings and passions

4. start or maintain a fire in

  Familiarity information: IGNITE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IGNITE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they ignite    ... he / she / it ignites   
Past simple: ignited   
Past participle: ignited   
-ing form: igniting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

ignite; light

Context example:

Light a cigarette

Hypernyms (to "ignite" is one way to...):

burn; combust (cause to burn or combust)

Cause:

burn; combust (undergo combustion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ignite"):

fire up; light; light up (begin to smoke)

reignite (ignite anew, as of something burning)

conflagrate; enkindle; inflame; kindle (cause to start burning)

light up (ignite)

flare up (ignite quickly and suddenly, especially after having died down)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

extinguish (put out, as of fires, flames, or lights)

Derivation:

ignitable (capable of burning)

igniter (a device for lighting or igniting fuel or charges or fires)

igniter (a substance used to ignite or kindle a fire)

ignitible (capable of burning)

ignition (the act of setting something on fire)

ignition (the process of initiating combustion or catching fire)

ignitor (a device for lighting or igniting fuel or charges or fires)

ignitor (a substance used to ignite or kindle a fire)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Start to burn or burst into flames

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

catch fire; combust; conflagrate; erupt; ignite; take fire

Context example:

The oily rags combusted spontaneously

Hypernyms (to "ignite" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Verb group:

burn; combust (cause to burn or combust)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ignite"):

blow out (erupt in an uncontrolled manner)

catch (start burning)

light up (start to burn with a bright flame)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

ignitable; ignitible (capable of burning)

ignition (the act of setting something on fire)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Arouse or excite feelings and passions

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

fire up; heat; ignite; inflame; stir up; wake

Context example:

Wake old feelings of hatred

Hypernyms (to "ignite" is one way to...):

arouse; elicit; enkindle; evoke; fire; kindle; provoke; raise (call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "ignite"):

ferment (work up into agitation or excitement)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Start or maintain a fire in

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

fire; ignite; light

Context example:

fire the furnace

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

You may be able to ignite a favorite project that you were once passionate about but had to put aside due to lack of time or funding.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

In the densest regions, protostars ignite and begin to drift about randomly.

(ALMA Captures Dramatic Stellar Fireworks, ESO)

In the densest regions, protostars ignite and begin to drift about randomly.

(Dramatic Stellar Fireworks of Star Birth, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The clumps gravitationally collapse in on themselves, growing denser and hotter in their cores until nuclear fusion ignites and a star is born.

(Herschel sees budding stars and a giant, strange ring, NASA)

Issue associated with approaching certain temperatures at which a combustible liquid ignites.

(Flashpoint Threshold Met Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

The police theory is that a most sensational crime has been committed, that the victim was clubbed to death in his own bedroom, his papers rifled, and his dead body dragged across to the wood-stack, which was then ignited so as to hide all traces of the crime.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Together these two sets of data form a complete picture of the process; cold gas fall towards the black hole, igniting the black hole and causing it to launch fast-moving jets of incandescent plasma into the void.

(ALMA and MUSE Detect Galactic Fountain, ESO)

On the first occasion I started up in alarm, to learn that she inferred from a particular light in the sky, that Westminster Abbey was on fire; and to be consulted in reference to the probability of its igniting Buckingham Street, in case the wind changed.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Mars will act like a match, igniting, one by one, each of the gifts of good-fortune Jupiter, transformative, powerhouse Pluto, and practical Saturn as he aligns separately with each planet.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Neptune, the planet of love and compassion, is the natural ruler of your fifth house of truelove, the area of the chart known to ignite that first spark of attraction.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)