combustible

/kəm'bʌstəbl/

Thân thiện

Gasoline is a highly combustible liquid that must be stored carefully.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Capable of igniting and burning: Describes a material or substance that can easily catch fire and burn.
   • Easily excited or aroused: Describes a person or situation that is volatile or easily provoked into strong emotion or conflict.

2. Noun:

   • A substance that can be burned to provide heat or power: A material, such as wood, coal, or gasoline, that is used as fuel.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • Gasoline is highly combustible and must be stored away from heat sources.
  • The political situation in the region is combustible, with tensions rising daily.
• Noun:
  • The factory switched to a cleaner-burning combustible to reduce emissions.
  • Coal was the primary combustible used during the Industrial Revolution.

Advanced Usage

• "Combustible mixture": A mixture of air and fuel that can ignite, often used in engines.
  • The engine failed because the combustible mixture was too rich.
• In a figurative sense: Used to describe a highly emotional or volatile personality.
  • His combustible temper made him difficult to work with.

Variants and Related Words

• Combustibility (n): The quality of being able to catch fire and burn.
  • The combustibility of the material was tested in the lab.
• Incombustible (adj): Not capable of being burned; fireproof.
  • Asbestos was once valued for being incombustible.

Synonyms

• Adjective (for materials): Flammable, inflammable, ignitable.
• Adjective (for people/situations): Volatile, explosive, fiery.
• Noun: Fuel, propellant.

Related Phrases

• Combustible liquid: A liquid with a flash point at or below a certain temperature, making it easy to ignite.
  • Regulations require special containers for transporting combustible liquids.
• Spontaneous combustion: The ignition of a substance caused by its own internal chemical reaction, without an external heat source.
  • The pile of oily rags was a risk for spontaneous combustion.

Idioms

• A combustible situation: A scenario that is very tense and likely to erupt into conflict or violence.
  • Mixing those two rival groups created a combustible situation.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. capable of igniting and burning

Noun

1. a substance that can be burned to provide heat or power

Từ đồng nghĩa

• combustible material