adjective / noun
combustible
kum-BUS-tuh-bul/kəmˈbʌstəbl/
Capable of catching fire and burning.
The dry paper and twigs are combustible.
Etymology
The pieces express a capacity to be burned up or consumed. That capacity becomes a property of a material: it can readily catch fire and burn.
In context
Good old dynamite is basically an absorbent stuffing, like a pillow that's been soaked in combustible chemicals so that it burns really quickly.
More examples
- The dry paper is highly combustible.
- The storeroom contained several combustibles.
- The test measured how easily the fabric became combustible under heat.
Forms
combustible · combustibles · more combustible · most combustible
combustion noun — the process of burning
Similar words
- flammable
- Flammable commonly means readily ignited; combustible broadly means capable of burning.
- inflammable
- Inflammable means able to burn, despite its misleading prefix; combustible has no such ambiguity.