combust
[ kuhm-buhst ]
verb (used with or without object)
to burn.
Origin of combust
11325–75; Middle English <Latin combūstus (past participle of combūrere to burn up, equivalent to com-com- + -ūs- variant stem of ūrere to burn + -tus past participle suffix; -b- by misanalysis of ambūrere, another derivative, as am- + -būrere)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use combust in a sentence
Congressional leaders can talk to one another without spontaneously combusting.
Cyril, you can see the whisky or the brandy combusting in them.
The White Peacock | D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
British Dictionary definitions for combust
combust
/ (kəmˈbʌst) /
adjective
astrology (of a star or planet) invisible for a period between 24 and 30 days each year due to its proximity to the sun
verb
chem to burn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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