See set the Thames on fire in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for set the Thames on fire meaning in English (4.8kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "temse",
"3": "",
"4": "sieve"
},
"expansion": "temse (“sieve”)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown. Suggested to derive from a misconstrual of temse (“sieve”): thus, to work so vigorously as to heat a sieve by friction. Alternatively, a reference to lightning strikes which sometimes occurred along the Thames, occasionally setting trees on fire or causing death in unusual manner. Otherwise simply by hyperbole, from the impossibility of setting a river on fire.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "sets the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "setting the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "set the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "set the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "set<,,set> the Thames on fire"
},
"expansion": "set the Thames on fire (third-person singular simple present sets the Thames on fire, present participle setting the Thames on fire, simple past and past participle set the Thames on fire)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Armenian terms with redundant script codes",
"parents": [
"Terms with redundant script codes",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
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"Entry maintenance"
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"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1884, WS Gilbert, ‘Princess Ida’, The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Oxford University Press, published 1996, page 491",
"text": "They intend to send a wire / To the moon — to the moon; / And they'll set the Thames on fire / Very soon — very soon",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1925, GK Chesterton, “The Ultimate Ultimatum of the League of the Long Bow”, in The Collected Works, Ignatius Press, published 2005, page 402",
"text": "Do you remember when you jumped into the water after the flowers? I fancy it was then you really set the Thames on fire.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1985, Tom Waits (lyrics and music), “Anywhere I Lay My Head”",
"text": "My head is spinning round / my heart is in my shoes, yeah / I went and set the Thames on fire, oh / now I must come back down.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim."
],
"id": "en-set_the_Thames_on_fire-en-verb-JqlNRi~F",
"links": [
[
"amazing",
"amazing"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly in the negative, idiomatic) To achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim."
],
"raw_tags": [
"in the negative"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "set the world on fire"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "hraškʻ gorcel",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "հրաշք գործել"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "yǐnqǐhōngdòng",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "引起轰动"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jīngrénzhījǔ",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "惊人之举"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "casser trois pattes à un canard"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "die Welt aus den Angeln heben"
},
{
"code": "hi",
"lang": "Hindi",
"roman": "anokhā kām karnā",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "अनोखा काम करना"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "meter uma lança em África"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "výdumatʹ pórox",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "вы́думать по́рох"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "dostátʹ lunu s neba",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "доста́ть луну с неба"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "dotjanútʹsja do zvjozd",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "дотяну́ться до звёзд"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "encender la pradera"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"Peter Ackroyd"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-set the Thames on fire.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/En-au-set_the_Thames_on_fire.ogg/En-au-set_the_Thames_on_fire.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/En-au-set_the_Thames_on_fire.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "set the Thames on fire"
}
{
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{
"args": {
"1": "en"
},
"expansion": "Unknown",
"name": "unk"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "temse",
"3": "",
"4": "sieve"
},
"expansion": "temse (“sieve”)",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Unknown. Suggested to derive from a misconstrual of temse (“sieve”): thus, to work so vigorously as to heat a sieve by friction. Alternatively, a reference to lightning strikes which sometimes occurred along the Thames, occasionally setting trees on fire or causing death in unusual manner. Otherwise simply by hyperbole, from the impossibility of setting a river on fire.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "sets the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "setting the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "set the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "set the Thames on fire",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "set<,,set> the Thames on fire"
},
"expansion": "set the Thames on fire (third-person singular simple present sets the Thames on fire, present participle setting the Thames on fire, simple past and past participle set the Thames on fire)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Armenian terms with redundant script codes",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with unknown etymologies",
"English verbs",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1884, WS Gilbert, ‘Princess Ida’, The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Oxford University Press, published 1996, page 491",
"text": "They intend to send a wire / To the moon — to the moon; / And they'll set the Thames on fire / Very soon — very soon",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1925, GK Chesterton, “The Ultimate Ultimatum of the League of the Long Bow”, in The Collected Works, Ignatius Press, published 2005, page 402",
"text": "Do you remember when you jumped into the water after the flowers? I fancy it was then you really set the Thames on fire.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1985, Tom Waits (lyrics and music), “Anywhere I Lay My Head”",
"text": "My head is spinning round / my heart is in my shoes, yeah / I went and set the Thames on fire, oh / now I must come back down.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim."
],
"links": [
[
"amazing",
"amazing"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(chiefly in the negative, idiomatic) To achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim."
],
"raw_tags": [
"in the negative"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "set the world on fire"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"wikipedia": [
"Peter Ackroyd"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-set the Thames on fire.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/52/En-au-set_the_Thames_on_fire.ogg/En-au-set_the_Thames_on_fire.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/En-au-set_the_Thames_on_fire.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "hraškʻ gorcel",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "հրաշք գործել"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "yǐnqǐhōngdòng",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "引起轰动"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jīngrénzhījǔ",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "惊人之举"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "casser trois pattes à un canard"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "die Welt aus den Angeln heben"
},
{
"code": "hi",
"lang": "Hindi",
"roman": "anokhā kām karnā",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "अनोखा काम करना"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "meter uma lança em África"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "výdumatʹ pórox",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "вы́думать по́рох"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "dostátʹ lunu s neba",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "доста́ть луну с неба"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "dotjanútʹsja do zvjozd",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "дотяну́ться до звёзд"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to achieve something amazing",
"word": "encender la pradera"
}
],
"word": "set the Thames on fire"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
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