towering inferno

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English

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Noun

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towering inferno (plural towering infernos)

  1. (poetic) A tall fire, as of a building.
    We fed the campfire until it became a towering inferno before us.
    • 2003, Beth Reiber, Frommer's Hong Kong:
      [T]he most compelling argument for avoiding Chungking Mansion is one of safety — it could be a towering inferno waiting to happen.
  2. A powerful, untamed force.
    • 2000, Michael S. Gazzaniga, The Mind's Past:
      [A]nyone saying now that humans are a towering inferno of irrationality ought to be challenged, and aggressively so.