light a fire under

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, build a fire under . Urge or goad to action, as in If we don't light a fire under that committee, they'll never do any work . This hyperbolic colloquialism uses light in the sense of “ignite,” a usage dating from the mid-1100s.

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April 25, 2024firkin

[fur-kin ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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