'To take fire' definitions:

Definition of 'To take fire'

From: GCIDE

Take \Take\, v. t. [imp. Took (t[oo^]k); p. p. Taken (t[=a]k'n); p. pr. & vb. n. Taking.] [Icel. taka; akin to Sw. taga, Dan. tage, Goth. t[=e]kan to touch; of uncertain origin.]
1. In an active sense; To lay hold of; to seize with the hands, or otherwise; to grasp; to get into one's hold or possession; to procure; to seize and carry away; to convey. Hence, specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) To obtain possession of by force or artifice; to get the custody or control of; to reduce into subjection to one's power or will; to capture; to seize; to make prisoner; as, to take an army, a city, or a ship; also, to come upon or befall; to fasten on; to attack; to seize; -- said of a disease, misfortune, or the like. [1913 Webster]
This man was taken of the Jews. --Acts xxiii. 27. [1913 Webster]
Men in their loose, unguarded hours they take; Not that themselves are wise, but others weak. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
They that come abroad after these showers are commonly taken with sickness. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
There he blasts the tree and takes the cattle And makes milch kine yield blood. --Shak. [1913 Webster] (b) To gain or secure the interest or affection of; to captivate; to engage; to interest; to charm. [1913 Webster]
Neither let her take thee with her eyelids. --Prov. vi. 25. [1913 Webster]
Cleombroutus was so taken with this prospect, that he had no patience. --Wake. [1913 Webster]
I know not why, but there was a something in those half-seen features, -- a charm in the very shadow that hung over their imagined beauty, -- which took me more than all the outshining loveliness of her companions. --Moore. [1913 Webster] (c) To make selection of; to choose; also, to turn to; to have recourse to; as, to take the road to the right. [1913 Webster]
Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. --1 Sam. xiv. 42. [1913 Webster]
The violence of storming is the course which God is forced to take for the destroying . . . of sinners. --Hammond. [1913 Webster] (d) To employ; to use; to occupy; hence, to demand; to require; as, it takes so much cloth to make a coat; it takes five hours to get to Boston from New York by car. [1913 Webster]
This man always takes time . . . before he passes his judgments. --I. Watts. [1913 Webster] (e) To form a likeness of; to copy; to delineate; to picture; as, to take a picture of a person. [1913 Webster]
Beauty alone could beauty take so right. --Dryden. [1913 Webster] (f) To draw; to deduce; to derive. [R.] [1913 Webster]
The firm belief of a future judgment is the most forcible motive to a good life, because taken from this consideration of the most lasting happiness and misery. --Tillotson. [1913 Webster] (g) To assume; to adopt; to acquire, as shape; to permit to one's self; to indulge or engage in; to yield to; to have or feel; to enjoy or experience, as rest, revenge, delight, shame; to form and adopt, as a resolution; -- used in general senses, limited by a following complement, in many idiomatic phrases; as, to take a resolution; I take the liberty to say. [1913 Webster] (h) To lead; to conduct; as, to take a child to church. [1913 Webster] (i) To carry; to convey; to deliver to another; to hand over; as, he took the book to the bindery; he took a dictionary with him. [1913 Webster]
He took me certain gold, I wot it well. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] (k) To remove; to withdraw; to deduct; -- with from; as, to take the breath from one; to take two from four. [1913 Webster]
2. In a somewhat passive sense, to receive; to bear; to endure; to acknowledge; to accept. Specifically: [1913 Webster] (a) To accept, as something offered; to receive; not to refuse or reject; to admit. [1913 Webster]
Ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer. --Num. xxxv. 31. [1913 Webster]
Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore. --1 Tim. v. 10. [1913 Webster] (b) To receive as something to be eaten or drunk; to partake of; to swallow; as, to take food or wine. [1913 Webster] (c) Not to refuse or balk at; to undertake readily; to clear; as, to take a hedge or fence. [1913 Webster] (d) To bear without ill humor or resentment; to submit to; to tolerate; to endure; as, to take a joke; he will take an affront from no man. [1913 Webster] (e) To admit, as, something presented to the mind; not to dispute; to allow; to accept; to receive in thought; to entertain in opinion; to understand; to interpret; to regard or look upon; to consider; to suppose; as, to take a thing for granted; this I take to be man's motive; to take men for spies. [1913 Webster]
You take me right. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
Charity, taken in its largest extent, is nothing else but the science love of God and our neighbor. --Wake. [1913 Webster]
[He] took that for virtue and affection which was nothing but vice in a disguise. --South. [1913 Webster]
You'd doubt his sex, and take him for a girl. --Tate. [1913 Webster] (f) To accept the word or offer of; to receive and accept; to bear; to submit to; to enter into agreement with; -- used in general senses; as, to take a form or shape. [1913 Webster]
I take thee at thy word. --Rowe. [1913 Webster]
Yet thy moist clay is pliant to command; . . . Not take the mold. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
3. To make a picture, photograph, or the like, of; as, to take a group or a scene. [Colloq.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
4. To give or deliver (a blow to); to strike; hit; as, he took me in the face; he took me a blow on the head. [Obs. exc. Slang or Dial.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
To be taken aback, To take advantage of, To take air, etc. See under Aback, Advantage, etc.
To take aim, to direct the eye or weapon; to aim.
To take along, to carry, lead, or convey.
To take arms, to commence war or hostilities.
To take away, to carry off; to remove; to cause deprivation of; to do away with; as, a bill for taking away the votes of bishops. "By your own law, I take your life away." --Dryden.
To take breath, to stop, as from labor, in order to breathe or rest; to recruit or refresh one's self.
To take care, to exercise care or vigilance; to be solicitous. "Doth God take care for oxen?" --1 Cor. ix. 9.
To take care of, to have the charge or care of; to care for; to superintend or oversee.
To take down. (a) To reduce; to bring down, as from a high, or higher, place; as, to take down a book; hence, to bring lower; to depress; to abase or humble; as, to take down pride, or the proud. "I never attempted to be impudent yet, that I was not taken down." --Goldsmith. (b) To swallow; as, to take down a potion. (c) To pull down; to pull to pieces; as, to take down a house or a scaffold. (d) To record; to write down; as, to take down a man's words at the time he utters them.
To take effect, To take fire. See under Effect, and Fire.
To take ground to the right or To take ground to the left (Mil.), to extend the line to the right or left; to move, as troops, to the right or left.
To take heart, to gain confidence or courage; to be encouraged.
To take heed, to be careful or cautious. "Take heed what doom against yourself you give." --Dryden.
To take heed to, to attend with care, as, take heed to thy ways.
To take hold of, to seize; to fix on.
To take horse, to mount and ride a horse.
To take in. (a) To inclose; to fence. (b) To encompass or embrace; to comprise; to comprehend. (c) To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to brail or furl; as, to take in sail. (d) To cheat; to circumvent; to gull; to deceive. [Colloq.] (e) To admit; to receive; as, a leaky vessel will take in water. (f) To win by conquest. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
For now Troy's broad-wayed town He shall take in. --Chapman. [1913 Webster] (g) To receive into the mind or understanding. "Some bright genius can take in a long train of propositions." --I. Watts. (h) To receive regularly, as a periodical work or newspaper; to take. [Eng.]
To take in hand. See under Hand.
To take in vain, to employ or utter as in an oath. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." --Ex. xx. 7.
To take issue. See under Issue.
To take leave. See Leave, n., 2.
To take a newspaper, magazine, or the like, to receive it regularly, as on paying the price of subscription.
To take notice, to observe, or to observe with particular attention.
To take notice of. See under Notice.
To take oath, to swear with solemnity, or in a judicial manner.
To take on, to assume; to take upon one's self; as, to take on a character or responsibility.
To take one's own course, to act one's pleasure; to pursue the measures of one's own choice.
To take order for. See under Order.
To take order with, to check; to hinder; to repress. [Obs.] --Bacon.
To take orders. (a) To receive directions or commands. (b) (Eccl.) To enter some grade of the ministry. See Order, n., 10.
To take out. (a) To remove from within a place; to separate; to deduct. (b) To draw out; to remove; to clear or cleanse from; as, to take out a stain or spot from cloth. (c) To produce for one's self; as, to take out a patent.
To take up. (a) To lift; to raise. --Hood. (b) To buy or borrow; as, to take up goods to a large amount; to take up money at the bank. (c) To begin; as, to take up a lamentation. --Ezek. xix. 1. (d) To gather together; to bind up; to fasten or to replace; as, to take up raveled stitches; specifically (Surg.), to fasten with a ligature. (e) To engross; to employ; to occupy or fill; as, to take up the time; to take up a great deal of room. (f) To take permanently. "Arnobius asserts that men of the finest parts . . . took up their rest in the Christian religion." --Addison. (g) To seize; to catch; to arrest; as, to take up a thief; to take up vagabonds. (h) To admit; to believe; to receive. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
The ancients took up experiments upon credit. --Bacon. [1913 Webster] (i) To answer by reproof; to reprimand; to berate. [1913 Webster]
One of his relations took him up roundly. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster] (k) To begin where another left off; to keep up in continuous succession; to take up (a topic, an activity). [1913 Webster]
Soon as the evening shades prevail, The moon takes up the wondrous tale. --Addison. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster] (l) To assume; to adopt as one's own; to carry on or manage; as, to take up the quarrels of our neighbors; to take up current opinions. "They take up our old trade of conquering." --Dryden. (m) To comprise; to include. "The noble poem of Palemon and Arcite . . . takes up seven years." --Dryden. (n) To receive, accept, or adopt for the purpose of assisting; to espouse the cause of; to favor. --Ps. xxvii. 10. (o) To collect; to exact, as a tax; to levy; as, to take up a contribution. "Take up commodities upon our bills." --Shak. (p) To pay and receive; as, to take up a note at the bank. (q) (Mach.) To remove, as by an adjustment of parts; as, to take up lost motion, as in a bearing; also, to make tight, as by winding, or drawing; as, to take up slack thread in sewing. (r) To make up; to compose; to settle; as, to take up a quarrel. [Obs.] --Shak. -- (s) To accept from someone, as a wager or a challenge; as, J. took M. up on his challenge.
To take up arms. Same as To take arms, above.
To take upon one's self. (a) To assume; to undertake; as, he takes upon himself to assert that the fact is capable of proof. (b) To appropriate to one's self; to allow to be imputed to, or inflicted upon, one's self; as, to take upon one's self a punishment.
To take up the gauntlet. See under Gauntlet. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'To take fire'

From: GCIDE

Fire \Fire\ (f[imac]r), n. [OE. fir, fyr, fur AS. f[=y]r; akin to D. vuur, OS. & OHG. fiur, G. feuer, Icel. f[=y]ri, f[=u]rr, Gr. py^r, and perh. to L. purus pure, E. pure Cf. Empyrean, Pyre.]
1. The evolution of light and heat in the combustion of bodies; combustion; state of ignition. [1913 Webster]
Note: The form of fire exhibited in the combustion of gases in an ascending stream or current is called flame. Anciently, fire, air, earth, and water were regarded as the four elements of which all things are composed. [1913 Webster]
2. Fuel in a state of combustion, as on a hearth, or in a stove or a furnace. [1913 Webster]
3. The burning of a house or town; a conflagration. [1913 Webster]
4. Anything which destroys or affects like fire. [1913 Webster]
5. Ardor of passion, whether love or hate; excessive warmth; consuming violence of temper. [1913 Webster]
he had fire in his temper. --Atterbury. [1913 Webster]
6. Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm; capacity for ardor and zeal. [1913 Webster]
And bless their critic with a poet's fire. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
7. Splendor; brilliancy; luster; hence, a star. [1913 Webster]
Stars, hide your fires. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
As in a zodiac representing the heavenly fires. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
8. Torture by burning; severe trial or affliction. [1913 Webster]
9. The discharge of firearms; firing; as, the troops were exposed to a heavy fire. [1913 Webster]
Blue fire, Red fire, Green fire (Pyrotech.), compositions of various combustible substances, as sulphur, niter, lampblack, etc., the flames of which are colored by various metallic salts, as those of antimony, strontium, barium, etc.
Fire alarm (a) A signal given on the breaking out of a fire. (b) An apparatus for giving such an alarm.
Fire annihilator, a machine, device, or preparation to be kept at hand for extinguishing fire by smothering it with some incombustible vapor or gas, as carbonic acid.
Fire balloon. (a) A balloon raised in the air by the buoyancy of air heated by a fire placed in the lower part. (b) A balloon sent up at night with fireworks which ignite at a regulated height. --Simmonds.
Fire bar, a grate bar.
Fire basket, a portable grate; a cresset. --Knight.
Fire beetle. (Zool.) See in the Vocabulary.
Fire blast, a disease of plants which causes them to appear as if burnt by fire.
Fire box, the chamber of a furnace, steam boiler, etc., for the fire.
Fire brick, a refractory brick, capable of sustaining intense heat without fusion, usually made of fire clay or of siliceous material, with some cementing substance, and used for lining fire boxes, etc.
Fire brigade, an organized body of men for extinguished fires.
Fire bucket. See under Bucket.
Fire bug, an incendiary; one who, from malice or through mania, persistently sets fire to property; a pyromaniac. [U.S.]
Fire clay. See under Clay.
Fire company, a company of men managing an engine in extinguishing fires.
Fire cross. See Fiery cross. [Obs.] --Milton.
Fire damp. See under Damp.
Fire dog. See Firedog, in the Vocabulary.
Fire drill. (a) A series of evolutions performed by fireman for practice. (b) An apparatus for producing fire by friction, by rapidly twirling a wooden pin in a wooden socket; -- used by the Hindoos during all historic time, and by many savage peoples.
Fire eater. (a) A juggler who pretends to eat fire. (b) A quarrelsome person who seeks affrays; a hotspur. [Colloq.]
Fire engine, a portable forcing pump, usually on wheels, for throwing water to extinguish fire.
Fire escape, a contrivance for facilitating escape from burning buildings.
Fire gilding (Fine Arts), a mode of gilding with an amalgam of gold and quicksilver, the latter metal being driven off afterward by heat.
Fire gilt (Fine Arts), gold laid on by the process of fire gilding.
Fire insurance, the act or system of insuring against fire; also, a contract by which an insurance company undertakes, in consideration of the payment of a premium or small percentage -- usually made periodically -- to indemnify an owner of property from loss by fire during a specified period.
Fire irons, utensils for a fireplace or grate, as tongs, poker, and shovel.
Fire main, a pipe for water, to be used in putting out fire.
Fire master (Mil), an artillery officer who formerly supervised the composition of fireworks.
Fire office, an office at which to effect insurance against fire.
Fire opal, a variety of opal giving firelike reflections.
Fire ordeal, an ancient mode of trial, in which the test was the ability of the accused to handle or tread upon red-hot irons. --Abbot.
Fire pan, a pan for holding or conveying fire, especially the receptacle for the priming of a gun.
Fire plug, a plug or hydrant for drawing water from the main pipes in a street, building, etc., for extinguishing fires.
Fire policy, the writing or instrument expressing the contract of insurance against loss by fire.
Fire pot. (a) (Mil.) A small earthen pot filled with combustibles, formerly used as a missile in war. (b) The cast iron vessel which holds the fuel or fire in a furnace. (c) A crucible. (d) A solderer's furnace.
Fire raft, a raft laden with combustibles, used for setting fire to an enemy's ships.
Fire roll, a peculiar beat of the drum to summon men to their quarters in case of fire.
Fire setting (Mining), the process of softening or cracking the working face of a lode, to facilitate excavation, by exposing it to the action of fire; -- now generally superseded by the use of explosives. --Raymond.
Fire ship, a vessel filled with combustibles, for setting fire to an enemy's ships.
Fire shovel, a shovel for taking up coals of fire.
Fire stink, the stench from decomposing iron pyrites, caused by the formation of hydrogen sulfide. --Raymond.
Fire surface, the surfaces of a steam boiler which are exposed to the direct heat of the fuel and the products of combustion; heating surface.
Fire swab, a swab saturated with water, for cooling a gun in action and clearing away particles of powder, etc. --Farrow.
Fire teaser, in England, the fireman of a steam emgine.
Fire water, a strong alcoholic beverage; -- so called by the American Indians.
Fire worship, the worship of fire, which prevails chiefly in Persia, among the followers of Zoroaster, called Chebers, or Guebers, and among the Parsees of India.
Greek fire. See under Greek.
On fire, burning; hence, ardent; passionate; eager; zealous.
Running fire, the rapid discharge of firearms in succession by a line of troops.
St. Anthony's fire, erysipelas; -- an eruptive fever which St. Anthony was supposed to cure miraculously. --Hoblyn.
St. Elmo's fire. See under Saint Elmo.
To set on fire, to inflame; to kindle.
To take fire, to begin to burn; to fly into a passion. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'To take fire'

take fire