Dictionary

Roman-candle en · VERB

Etymology

A verbal form of Roman candle.

Meanings

1. (figuratively, intransitive) To move from or spin away in the manner of a Roman candle.
   • His canopy had snagged on the tailplane of the aircraft, causing him to Roman-candle into the rocky desert ground. 1990, Michael Asher, Shoot to Kill: A Soldier's Journey Through Violence, page 189:
   • Ronald Reagan went on TV hours after the space shuttle Challenger tragically Roman-candled over Florida and said, "The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave." 2014, Christopher Buckley, But Enough About You: Essays, page 428:
   • Luckily, the seat parted company enough for his parachute to Roman-candle, and almost immediately he crashed through a tree. 2005, Alec Brew, Aircraft Down: Forced Landings, Crash Landings and Rescues:
2. (figuratively, intransitive) To achieve or attain fame or success quickly and rapidly.
   • Murry (the K) Kaufman, whose seven-year "Swingin' Soiree" Roman-candled Saturday (27), has taped a pilot for the station. 1965 March 6, “WPIX Show Will Host Coast Artists”, in Billboard, volume 77, number 10, page 48:
   • […] Roman candled to fame in Gertrude Lawrence's legit musical, "Lady In The Dark," which put Freud in grease-paint. 1956, Variety, volume 201, number 5, page 100:
3. (figuratively, transitive) To light up with excitement that lacks of focus or direction.
   • Despite the severe shortage of goose-bump manufacturers of late in our jaded, weary world, music never fails to roman-candle the spine. 1974, Holiday, page 30:
   • I was Roman candling with less frequency; the more accustomed to the chase I became, the less manic I acted. 1983, Tony Kornheiser, The Baby Chase, page 124:
   • And then absurd notions roman-candled in his mind. 2009, Julie Anne Long, Like No Other Lover:, page 6:

Forms