set fire to

• set fire unto (archaic, poetic)
• set fire in, set fire on, set fire upon, set fire of, set fire by, set fire into (all obsolete)

set fire to (third-person singular simple present sets fire to, present participle setting fire to, simple past set fire to, past participle set fire to or (dialectal) setten fire to) (transitive)

1. To cause (something) to be on fire; to set (something) alight. [16th c.]

   Synonyms: set light, set on fire, torch

   They set fire to the house.

   • 1941 October, “Notes and News: A Serious Swiss Derailment”, in Railway Magazine, page 469:

     A freight train became completely derailed, blocking the tunnel entrance, and six of the wagons rolled down the mountainside, demolishing and setting fire on their way to a guard house, in which three soldiers were killed.

2. (figurative) To destroy or dismantle (something).

   As soon as the new CEO arrived, he started setting fire to the old way of doing things.

3. (figurative) To stir up intense emotion or action in (something).

   Synonym: set on fire

   All it took was one word to set fire to the crowd.

• Eiferts, Siefert, fireset, ifreets