Dictionary

spontaneous combustion en · NOUN

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Combustion without an external source of heat.
   • The experiment was abandoned when one fine day spontaneous combustion of the pulverised coal in the container occurred, and a black cloud of the very finely divided fuel rose into the air by the force of the explosion, and was slowly wafted by the prevailing breeze over the town, upon which it descended with the resemblance of black snow, but with the dissimilarity that it did not melt. 1940 May, “The Why and the Wherefore: Pulverised Fuel Experiment”, in Railway Magazine, page 318:

Forms

Deriveds

spontaneous human combustion

Relateds

burst into flames

Synonyms

autocombustion

Translations (13)

ro combustie spontană (combustion without a source of heat) · fi itsesyttyminen (combustion without a source of heat) · pl samozapłon (combustion without a source of heat) · ru самовозгора́ние (combustion without a source of heat) · uk самозайма́ння (combustion without a source of heat) · de Selbstentzündung (combustion without a source of heat) · sv självantändning (combustion without a source of heat) · el αυτανάφλεξη (combustion without a source of heat) · cmn 自燃 (combustion without a source of heat) · pt combustão espontânea (combustion without a source of heat) · tl kusang-liyab (combustion without a source of heat) · ro autoaprindere (combustion without a source of heat) · ro autoaprins (combustion without a source of heat)