incendiary
Part of speech: adj
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
technical
Etymology: From Middle English incendiarie, from Old French incendiaire, from Latin incendiārius (“setting alight”), from incendium (“destructive fire”), from incendō (“to set on fire, kindle”), from in- (“into, in, on, upon”) + candeō (“to be hot”).
Inflected forms:
form: more incendiary
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most incendiary
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: incendiaries
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Capable of, or used for, or actually causing fire.
pos: adj
examples: Driving 2-6-2 locomotive No. 4771 Green Arrow, Blunt suddenly noticed that the tunnel mouth was silhouetted in a dazzling white glare and that incendiary bombs were showering down in their hundreds, he slammed on all his brakes and brought his train to a stop just inside the tunnel.
We saw photographs of bodies riddled with pellets from fragmentation bombs or charred by incendiary weapons (besides napalm, the Americans also drop white phosphorus, Thermit, and magnesium on the Vietnamese).
Blast after blast, fiery outbreak after fiery outbreak, like a flaming barrage from within,[…]most of Edison's grounds soon became an inferno. As though on an incendiary rampage, the fires systematically devoured the contents of Edison's headquarters and facilities.
gloss: Of a damaging fire, intentionally caused rather than accidental.
pos: adj
examples: The Crown must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the fire was incendiary in origin; that is, it was not accidental and that it was either intentionally or recklessly set by the accused.
gloss: Intentionally stirring up strife, riot, rebellion.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: Earlier that year Italian Jews had come under serious attack when an incendiary publication, Gli ebrei in Italia (The Jews in Italy), had flooded the bookshops. The author, Paolo Orano, was a Fascist publicist whose book helped to harden Italian public sensibility against the Jews and pave the way for their eventual persecution.
gloss: Inflammatory, emotionally charged.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: Politics is an incendiary topic; it tends to cause fights to break out.
gloss: Something capable of causing fire, particularly a weapon.
pos: noun
examples: The military used incendiaries to destroy the building. Fortunately, the fire didn't spread.
gloss: One who maliciously sets fires.
pos: noun
gloss: One who excites or inflames factions into quarrels.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
examples: March 7, 1692, Richard Bentley, The Folly of Atheism
Several cities […] drove them out as incendiaries.
Derived words: incendiarism
incendiarist
incendigel
nonincendiary
anti-incendiary
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: подстрека́тел
roman: podstrekátel
lang: Bulgarian
word: подстрека́телка
roman: podstrekátelka
lang: Finnish
word: palopuhuja
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: oppvigler
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: opprører
lang: Norwegian Bokmål
word: brannstifter
lang: Polish
word: agitator
lang: Polish
word: agitatorka
lang: Polish
word: podżegacz
lang: Polish
word: podżegaczka
lang: Polish
word: podjudzacz
lang: Polish
word: podjudzaczka
lang: Russian
word: подстрека́тель
roman: podstrekátelʹ
lang: Russian
word: подстрека́тельница
roman: podstrekátelʹnica
lang: Serbo-Croatian
word: podstrekač