as in to burn
to be on fire especially brightly
anthracite, which is naturally hard, combusts more cleanly than bituminous coal
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of combust
Better battery management systems and less flammable, metal enclosures could help prevent fires without retardants
Researchers say the best solution to this growing problem might be to focus on making efforts to prevent batteries from combusting in the first place.
—
Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 30 Jan. 2025
While many of the family squabbles do eventually combust, Headland seems to acquiesce here and treads a little too delicately.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2024
The plan seems destined to rival the negotiation process that Trump’s administration opened with Russia last month, and suggests a tacit acceptance that bringing Trump and Zelensky to the negotiating table together could result in tensions combusting once more.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 2 Mar. 2025
In the Cold War, Washington—twice burned by Eurasian conflagrations—opted to keep the supercontinent from combusting again.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for combust
Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 30 Jan. 2025
While many of the family squabbles do eventually combust, Headland seems to acquiesce here and treads a little too delicately.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 12 Dec. 2024
The plan seems destined to rival the negotiation process that Trump’s administration opened with Russia last month, and suggests a tacit acceptance that bringing Trump and Zelensky to the negotiating table together could result in tensions combusting once more.
—Rob Picheta, CNN, 2 Mar. 2025
In the Cold War, Washington—twice burned by Eurasian conflagrations—opted to keep the supercontinent from combusting again.
—Hal Brands, Foreign Affairs, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for combust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for combust
Verb
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The pair, who met as college undergrads, both burned with idealism and recognized their privilege could be leveraged for a game-changing idea.—
Carole Horst,
Variety,
13 Sep. 2023
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The Ellen MacArthur Foundation promotes circular fashion and says that, in the United States, an amount of clothing equal to a garbage truck is ferried to landfills or burned every second.—
Neeti Mehra,
Treehugger,
13 Sep. 2023
Verb
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The first Tron had played out as a series of face-offs featuring glowing figures against a black background, replicating the blank environment of an arcade screen.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
27 June 2025
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Miguel and Angel were grinning maniacs standing in the middle of the set with their arms around each other’s shoulders, like ballplayers after a winning game surrounded by a circle of glowing fans.—
Helen Schulman,
The Atlantic,
26 June 2025
Verb
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There is stabbing and shooting before Derringer and Clarke parachute out of the flaming plane together.—
Caryn James,
HollywoodReporter,
27 June 2025
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Other images show the flaming sun over the same landscape and alligators wading in the water.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
25 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Combust.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/combust. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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