The Collaborative International Dictionary
Combust \Com*bust"\, a. [L. combustus, p. p. of comburere to burn up; com- + burere (only in comp.), of uncertain origin; cf. bustum funeral pyre, prurire to itch, pruna a live coal, Gr. pyrso`s firebrand, Skr. plush to burn.]
Burnt; consumed. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.-
(Astron.) So near the sun as to be obscured or eclipsed by his light, as the moon or planets when not more than eight degrees and a half from the sun. [Obs.]
Planets that are oft combust.
--Milton.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c. as an adjective, "burnt," from Old French combust (14c.), from Latin combustus, past participle of combuere "to burn up, consume" (see combustion). Also an astrological term for planets when near the sun. The verb is attested from late 15c. Related: Combusted; combusting.\n
Wiktionary
1 (context obsolete English) burnt. 2 (context astrology English) In close conjunction with the sun (so that its astrological influence is "burnt up"), sometimes specified to be within 8 degrees 30'. v
1 To burn; to catch fire. 2 (context intransitive figuratively English) To erupt with enthusiasm or boisterousness.
WordNet
v. cause to burn or combust; "The sun burned off the fog"; "We combust coal and other fossil fuels" [syn: burn]
start to burn or burst into flames; "Marsh gases ignited suddenly"; "The oily rags combusted spontaneously" [syn: erupt, ignite, catch fire, take fire, conflagrate]
get very angry and fly into a rage; "The professor combusted when the student didn't know the answer to a very elementary question"; "Spam makes me go ballistic" [syn: flip one's lid, blow up, throw a fit, hit the roof, hit the ceiling, have kittens, have a fit, blow one's stack, fly off the handle, flip one's wig, lose one's temper, blow a fuse, go ballistic]
cause to become violent or angry; "Riots combusted Pakistan after the U.S. air attacks on Afghanistan"
undergo combustion; "Maple wood burns well" [syn: burn]
Wikipedia
Combust can refer to:
- Combust (astrological aspect), the obscuring of the unassisted viewing of a planet by the Sun's light
- Combustion, the exothermical chemical reaction
Usage examples of "combust".
The scramjet ignited then, liquid hydrogen vaporizing in carefully designed supersonic plume patterns within the hot compressed airflow before combusting in long, lean azure flames.
Soldiers spontaneously combusted, burning with a fire no water could extinguish, as pyros went to work.
A great gush of pyrotic gas rolled out of her tongue and combusted spectacularly across the night sky.
Soldiers spontaneously combusted, burning with a fire no water could extinguish, as pyros went to work.
When it seemed the station must spontaneously combust from the fetid friction of so many bodies, the roar of an oncoming train stirred the crowd the way wind stirs a field of grain.
Trash bags have been swelling up and spontaneously combusting out in the dumpsters.
Jesuit, suffered at age twenty-five a sudden and dire spiritual decline in which his basic faith in the innate indwelling goodness of men like spontaneously combusted and disappeared and for no apparent or dramatic reason.
With my cindered spear I sadly traced it, lion's head to serpent's tail, as down upon us gentle ashes -- whose, if not my imperfectly combusted tutor's?
A great gush of pyrotic gas rolled out of her tongue and combusted spectacularly across the night sky.
Glass blew out, and the interior combusted instantly, burning with eerie fury.
When released with a simple command, mite and powders combusted in an amusing way.
While anthracite burns smokelessly, it combusts slowly and requires a firebox several times larger than for a bituminous coal burner to achieve the same heat production rate.
Now, it is true that combustion can refer to agitation or tumult, but for the purposes of this essay, when I mention combust, combustion, or combusting, I am talking about something or someone burning up.
I look upon my life and I am simply left shaking my head, wondering how I managed to contain all the rage that surged in me without spontaneously combusting or in some other way experiencing an abrupt end.
Would I extinguish myself in the fire, like some spontaneously combusting person?