Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

spontaneous combustion

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.33 in modern English

Syllables: spon-ta-neous -com-bus-tion
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

21

Letters

6

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Combustion without an external source of heat.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"The experiment was abandoned when one fine day spontaneous combustion of the pulverised coal in the container occurred, and a black cloud of the very finely divided fuel rose into the air by the force of the explosion, and was slowly wafted by the prevailing breeze over the town, upon which it descended with the resemblance of black snow, but with the dissimilarity that it did not melt."

Usage

Inflected Forms

spontaneous combustions (plural)

Phrases

spontaneous human combustion burst into flames

Frequently Paired Words

burst into flames

Synonyms

autocombustion

Questions

What does spontaneous combustion mean?: Combustion without an external source of heat.

How to pronounce spontaneous combustion

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