spontaneous combustion
noun
: self-ignition of combustible material through chemical action (such as oxidation) of its constituents
called also spontaneous ignition
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In an afternoon news conference Thursday, Matthew Haerter, the assistant chief of the Western Lakes Fire Department who spoke as a member of the Southeastern Wisconsin Incident Management Team, seem to rule out the idea of spontaneous combustion. 
Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 21 May 2022 The fans think Slayer’s act onstage is spontaneous combustion, a spark of wicked enthusiasm setting off a firestorm of malevolence. Bob Larsen, SPIN, 12 Feb. 2022 It is known for spontaneous combustion, not just combustion. New York Times, 13 Dec. 2020 Here’s an overdose in one room, and a person stabbed with an ancient sword in another, a snakebite on the second floor of a hotel, a spontaneous combustion, a man in skeleton makeup cackling through a compound fracture. Katie Walsh, chicagotribune.com, 20 Oct. 2020 Those conditions are borne out in Dickens’s fiction, which is filled with death of all kinds (murder, drowning, and in once case spontaneous combustion). Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 16 Sep. 2020 Famous for their electric-blue fire (created by the spontaneous combustion of subterranean gasses) and toxic yellow smoke, the mines would make an interesting photography project, Louie thought. Michael Hardy, Wired, 17 Feb. 2020 When the two chemicals came into contact with one another, there was a spontaneous combustion reaction that would propel the ascent module off of the descent module and into lunar orbit. Alex Hollings, Popular Mechanics, 24 July 2019 In February, the 3,865-square-foot home was damaged by a freak fire, caused by spontaneous combustion of a pile of dead grass, in which luckily nobody was hurt, Mary Wise of Keller Williams Central tells CountryLiving.com. Jenae Sitzes, Country Living, 28 Apr. 2017 See More
Jim Riccioli, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 21 May 2022 The fans think Slayer’s act onstage is spontaneous combustion, a spark of wicked enthusiasm setting off a firestorm of malevolence. Bob Larsen, SPIN, 12 Feb. 2022 It is known for spontaneous combustion, not just combustion. New York Times, 13 Dec. 2020 Here’s an overdose in one room, and a person stabbed with an ancient sword in another, a snakebite on the second floor of a hotel, a spontaneous combustion, a man in skeleton makeup cackling through a compound fracture. Katie Walsh, chicagotribune.com, 20 Oct. 2020 Those conditions are borne out in Dickens’s fiction, which is filled with death of all kinds (murder, drowning, and in once case spontaneous combustion). Josephine Livingstone, The New Republic, 16 Sep. 2020 Famous for their electric-blue fire (created by the spontaneous combustion of subterranean gasses) and toxic yellow smoke, the mines would make an interesting photography project, Louie thought. Michael Hardy, Wired, 17 Feb. 2020 When the two chemicals came into contact with one another, there was a spontaneous combustion reaction that would propel the ascent module off of the descent module and into lunar orbit. Alex Hollings, Popular Mechanics, 24 July 2019 In February, the 3,865-square-foot home was damaged by a freak fire, caused by spontaneous combustion of a pile of dead grass, in which luckily nobody was hurt, Mary Wise of Keller Williams Central tells CountryLiving.com. Jenae Sitzes, Country Living, 28 Apr. 2017 See More Word History
First Known Use
1795, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
spontaneous combustion
noun
: a bursting of material into flame from the heat produced within itself through chemical action