How to Use light a fire under (someone) in a Sentence
light a fire under (someone)
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But that didn’t mean the fan favorite couldn’t try to light a fire under some butts on his way out the door.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 4 Sep. 2020
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Tell her to get on the phone and light a fire under someone so that her dress does arrive on time.
—Sara Belcher, People.com, 5 July 2025
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Allowed Roberts to get heated and light a fire under his team.
—Dennis Lin, New York Times, 18 June 2025
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Perhaps, then, this new paper will light a fire under the field of fire science.
—Matt Simon, Wired, 17 Dec. 2020
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Just a taste of a what a strike can feel like can light a fire under negotiations.
—Chris Isidore, CNN, 25 Mar. 2023
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As Faris notes, this was exactly what Democrats needed to light a fire under their base.
—Ryan Cooper, The Week, 16 Sep. 2021
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Minnifield and Dixon wanted to light a fire under their defense.
—Terry Pluto, cleveland, 3 Dec. 2021
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Garrett was undoubtedly trying to light a fire under his teammates as well as himself.
—Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland, 27 Sep. 2021
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Whether the intention was to actually put his name on the trade market or light a fire under the team doesn’t matter at this point.
—Shayna Goldman, The Athletic, 7 Jan. 2025
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Gruden may be praising Mariota as a way to light a fire under Carr.
—oregonlive, 15 Aug. 2020
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The walk to the beach takes around 15 minutes, and the sight of the ocean ahead, in a dip between two green hills, will light a fire under anybody.
—Jo Rodgers, Vogue, 3 May 2024
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Atlanta badly needed a power hitter, someone who could light a fire under the offense.
—Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
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Pitino drew criticism for his post-game tirade but has since claimed it was measured, intended to light a fire under his players.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 12 Mar. 2024
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To say these are the kinds of shows that will light a fire under you in the kitchen would be an overstatement bordering on condescension for many of us.
—Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2021
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Otherwise, its effort to light a fire under HBO Max could leave scorch marks.
—Dan Gallagher, WSJ, 19 Dec. 2020
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On the break between the second and third set, Keys wandered close enough to the courtside box for a chat and found her coach trying to light a fire under her.
—Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 25 Jan. 2025
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But the scale of the FTX collapse is likely to light a fire under regulators around the world.
—WIRED, 18 Nov. 2022
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The promise of sotatercept has helped light a fire under Acceleron’s shares in the past couple of years and swelled its market value.
—Ben Dummett, WSJ, 27 Sep. 2021
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And that's not even including the saintly mamas who have died to light a fire under their sons (hi, Thor and Shang-Chi).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 13 July 2022
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Musk may have felt this warning would light a fire under employees and engage their entrepreneurial thinking.
—Lynne Curry | Alaska Workplace, Anchorage Daily News, 21 Nov. 2022
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Cox plan to light a fire under unemployed Utahns by nixing benefits is merely smoldering.
—Bryan Schott, The Salt Lake Tribune, 5 Aug. 2021
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With North American trade in focus, this may actually give a respite to stocks with supply chains elsewhere and light a fire under them.
—Brett Owens, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025
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Primary elections rarely light a fire under most California voters.
—John Myers, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2022
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Conferences provide great potential for business professionals to light a fire under their careers.
—John Hall, Forbes, 15 Sep. 2024
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The stunning decision by Biles should light a fire under sports organizations to do a better job of helping athletes with burnout and mental health issues.
—Editorial Board, Star Tribune, 28 July 2021
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Musk acknowledged helping hire lawyers to shepherd the acquisition through board confirmation and holding weekly meetings to light a fire under the due-diligence process.
—BostonGlobe.com, 16 Aug. 2021
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There’s no telling what’s to come, but Baylor fans should be thrilled that Aranda was able to pull this off and light a fire under Shapen following a disappointing season.
—Michael Haag, Dallas News, 11 Jan. 2023
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Hopefully, coming up short this season will light a fire under the team for the 2025 NFL Season.
—Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
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But instead of letting this light a fire under her, Mistress continued to spiral this week, landing back in the bottom two after a subpar talent show performance and so-so runway look.
—Andy Swift, TVLine, 11 July 2025
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Leave it to Virat Kohli, India's talismanic batter who doubles as a renowned provocateur, to try to light a fire under his beleaguered team.
—Tristan Lavalette, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'light a fire under (someone).' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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