wildfire

«wildfire» in Mova's school dictionary: a big fire that spreads out of control through forests… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a wildfire, wildfires; wildfire, uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) A wildfire is a big fire that spreads out of control through forests, bush or grassland. tree →

2) «Spread like wildfire» means spread very quickly, like news or a rumour. tree →

sense in the lessons

In geography and safety lessons, wildfires (called bushfires in Australia and New Zealand, forest fires or brush fires in North America) happen most in hot, dry, windy weather; lightning, campfires, sparks, cigarettes and arson can start them. Safety: follow fire bans, never leave a campfire, know your family's fire plan, and leave early when told to evacuate. Firefighters fight them from the ground and from the air. Phrases: «spread like wildfire», «wildfire season», «wildfire smoke».

examples

• The wildfire spread quickly across the dry hills. tree →
• Firefighters dropped water on the wildfire from planes. tree →
• Many animals ran from the wildfire. tree →
• Smoke from the wildfire made the sky orange. tree →
• The rumour spread like wildfire through the school. tree →
• Never leave a campfire burning, because it could start a wildfire. tree →
• Our family has a plan in case of a wildfire. tree →
• Wildfires are more common in hot, dry summers. tree →

note

One word. In Australia people usually say «bushfire». Some forests need small natural fires to stay healthy, but wildfires near homes are very dangerous. «Spread like wildfire» is about speed, not about real fire.

In the corpora

• When there is a fire ban, do not light any fire at all, because one spark can start a wildfire.
• Hidden embers can stay hot for many hours and start a wildfire.
• Wildfires and bushfires move very fast, especially with wind.
• When there is a wildfire evacuation order, leave early with your family and never go back for toys; roads can become blocked.
• Wildfires can move faster than a person can run, so families leave as soon as they are told to.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «wildfire» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.