| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| inflame |
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| SYLLABICATION: | in·flame |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   n-fl m |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: in·flamed, in·flam·ing, in·flames
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To arouse to passionate feeling or action: crimes that inflamed the entire community. 2. To make more violent; intensify: “inflamed to madness an already savage nature” (Robert Graves). 3a. To cause (the skin) to redden or grow hot, as from strong emotion or stimulants. b. To turn red or make glow: Great bonfires inflamed the night. 4. To produce inflammation in (a tissue or organ). 5. To set on fire; kindle. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To become excited or aroused. 2. To be affected by inflammation. 3. To catch fire. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English enflaumen, from Old French enflammer, from Latin  nflammre : in-, intensive pref.; see in–2 + flammre, to set on fire (from flamma, flame; see bhel-1 in Appendix I). | | OTHER FORMS: | in·flamer —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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