inflame

verb

Etymology: From Middle English inflammen, enflamen, enflaumen, from Old French enflammer (“to inflame”), from Latin inflammō (“to kindle, set on fire”, verb), from in (“in, on”) + flamma (“flame”), equivalent to in- + flame.

1. To set (something) on fire; to cause (something) to burn, flame, or glow; to kindle.

   “We should have made retreat / By light of the inflamed fleet.”

   “Along the perimeter road the police car approached, headlamps inflaming the afternoon sunlight.”

2. To intensify or kindle (a feeling, such as appetite or passion); to excite to an excessive or unnatural action or heat.

   “to inflame desire”

   “more, it seems, inflamed with lust than rage”

3. To provoke (a person) to anger or rage; to exasperate; to irritate; to incense; to enrage.

   “It will inflame you; it will make you mad.”

   “To VVrangle the Devil, out of the Country, vvill be truly a Nevv Experiment! Alas, vve are not Avvare of the Devil, if vve do not think, that he aims at Enflaming us one againſt another; & ſhall vve ſuffer our ſelves to be Devil-Ridden? or, by any Vnadviſableneſs, contribute unto the VVidening of our Breaches?”

4. To put in a state of inflammation; to produce morbid heat, congestion, or swelling, of.

   “to inflame the eyes by overwork”

5. To exaggerate; to enlarge upon.

   “A friend exaggerates a man's virtues, an enemy inflames his crimes.”

   “As you say, we passengers are to be taxed to pay all these fineries. I have often seen a good sideboard, or a marble chimney-piece, though not actually put in the bill, inflame a reckoning confoundedly.”

6. To grow morbidly hot, congested, or painful; to become angry or incensed.

   “You meditate upon the nerves, Inflame with hate. This ancient feud Is seldom won. […]”