| 释义 |
spread like wildfire, to spread like wildfireTo spread, circulate, or propagate very quickly and widely. Likened to the rapid spread of a literal wildfire. News of the scandal spread like wildfire across the news outlets. An outbreak of the deadly virus has been spreading like wildfire through the closely confined camps of refugees.See also: like, spread, wildfirespread like wildfireFig. [for something] to spread rapidly. Rumors spread like wildfire when people are excited. This disease will spread like wildfire when it gets going.See also: like, spread, wildfirespread like wildfireDisseminate or circulate very quickly, as in The rumor about their divorce spread like wildfire. The noun wildfire means "a raging, rapidly spreading conflagration." [c. 1800] See also: like, spread, wildfirespread like wildfire COMMON If something, especially information or a disease, spreads like wildfire, it very quickly reaches or affects a lot of people. The news of his release spread like wildfire. These stories were spreading like wildfire through the neighbourhood. The virus swept through the team like wildfire. Note: This expression may refer to the way that fires which start in the countryside spread very quickly and are difficult to control. See also: like, spread, wildfirespread like wildfire spread with great speed.See also: like, spread, wildfirespread like ˈwildfire (especially of news or disease) travel or spread very quickly: Rumours about a fall in the price of oil spread like wildfire in the city. ♢ Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.See also: like, spread, wildfirespread like wildfire, toTo disseminate very quickly. Wildfire here denotes a combination of inflammable materials that catch fire very fast. The analogy to less concrete matters was drawn by about 1800. Benjamin Disraeli used it in Venetia (1837): “The report . . . spread like wild fire through the town.”See also: like, spread |