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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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“I think it would light a fire under people to show that we can do some things that we didn’t think we could do,” said Alagona, who in 2016 founded the California Grizzly Research Network.

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Wouldn’t that light a fire under you?

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Verona Frankish, chief executive of online estate agent Yopa, said the changes "will certainly light a fire under those buyers currently progressing through the transaction process, or considering a purchase this side of Christmas".

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"A bit of youth is a good thing. I think he'll light a fire under the French government, which seems to be showing some signs of age," agreed the fishmonger, Johan Chassevent, 49, as he shucked a pile of Coquilles St Jacques.

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The White House is trying to light a fire under Congress to pass $106 billion in war aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, but the emergency funding isn’t dire enough for Democrats to cut a deal with Republicans on border security.

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

light adaptation light air

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