as in to burn
to be on fire especially brightly
anthracite, which is naturally hard, combusts more cleanly than bituminous coal
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Recent Examples of combust
And firefighters in Palm Harbor, Florida, last year warned Tesla owners their rechargeable car batteries could combust if exposed to saltwater after two of the electric vehicles caught fire following submersion.
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Kate Gibson, CBS News, 9 Oct. 2024
The chemical element sticks to human skin and can combust spontaneously when exposed to air at temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
—Paul Hockenos, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Sep. 2024
Austin McIntosh, a technician, and Kyle Fennig, a research assistant, grabbed a tool to measure how much of the soil had combusted.
—Manuela Andreoni, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2024
The debacle of Biden-Trump II was the exception that proves the rule—to meet the threshold for mattering, a sitting President must spontaneously combust on live TV.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for combust 
Kate Gibson, CBS News, 9 Oct. 2024
The chemical element sticks to human skin and can combust spontaneously when exposed to air at temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
—Paul Hockenos, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Sep. 2024
Austin McIntosh, a technician, and Kyle Fennig, a research assistant, grabbed a tool to measure how much of the soil had combusted.
—Manuela Andreoni, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2024
The debacle of Biden-Trump II was the exception that proves the rule—to meet the threshold for mattering, a sitting President must spontaneously combust on live TV.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for combust
Recent Examples of Synonyms for combust
Verb
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The pair, who met as college undergrads, both burned with idealism and recognized their privilege could be leveraged for a game-changing idea.Carole Horst, Variety, 13 Sep. 2023
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The Ellen MacArthur Foundation promotes circular fashion and says that, in the United States, an amount of clothing equal to a garbage truck is ferried to landfills or burned every second.Neeti Mehra, Treehugger, 13 Sep. 2023
Verb
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However, for Chiquis, the sheen of these triumphs glows within a transformative darkness.Edward Segarra, USA TODAY, 11 Dec. 2024
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Trump's transition also released what essentially amounted to a hype video Tuesday, touting some senators' glowing remarks about Hegseth.Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The cathedral also has new furniture, including a new altar to replace one crushed when the flaming spire collapsed.John Leicester, Los Angeles Times, 6 Dec. 2024
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Located around a four-hour drive north of Ashgabat via a rough desert highway, this giant flaming hole in the ground was created during the Soviet era by a natural gas rig collapsing into an underground gas pocket.Joe Yogerst, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near combust
Cite this Entry
“Combust.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/combust. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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