as in fire
the illegal burning of a building or other property; the crime of setting fire to something
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators suspect arson. The town has suffered a rash of arson attacks.
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Recent Examples of arson
Taija Russell struck a plea deal that with prosecutors that saw her plead guilty to arson.
—
Brian Niemietz, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
Last Friday, Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old accused of starting a fire that led to the massive Palisades Fire, pleaded not guilty to charges of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 27 Oct. 2025
But the study does count the arson of 11 NYPD squad cars in June of 2025, a case that Ware said would not necessarily have made his list.
—NPR, 25 Oct. 2025
A week later, a grand jury indicted him on additional charges, including one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire.
—Greg Norman, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for arson
Brian Niemietz, Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2025
Last Friday, Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 29-year-old accused of starting a fire that led to the massive Palisades Fire, pleaded not guilty to charges of destruction of property by means of fire, arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and timber set afire.
—David Browne, Rolling Stone, 27 Oct. 2025
But the study does count the arson of 11 NYPD squad cars in June of 2025, a case that Ware said would not necessarily have made his list.
—NPR, 25 Oct. 2025
A week later, a grand jury indicted him on additional charges, including one count of arson affecting property used in interstate commerce and one count of timber set afire.
—Greg Norman, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for arson
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arson
Noun
-
Eddy came under fire after the op-ed published, with Angel City FC and the team's captain, center back Sarah Gorden, both denouncing the piece.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
-
Currently, there is no data on the containment status of the fire and the cause has yet to be determined.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
4 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Developed in collaboration with firefighters and landowners, Seneca claims its scalable aerial units will redefine how wildfires are detected, controlled, and contained in an era of growing climate risk.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The wildfire has been burning on private land.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Human twilight, with Hopkins in charge, became a noonday blaze.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The cause of the blaze was not immediately determined.—
Karen Kucher,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Arson.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arson. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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