towering inferno

English

Noun

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.

   • 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.
   • 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.