扑火 (pū huǒ) — to put out a fire, to extinguish flames; (figurative) to rush to one's doom (as in 飞蛾扑火)

Definition

Examples

• 消防员正在拼命扑火。
  Xiāo fáng yuán zhèng zài pīn mìng pū huǒ.
  The firefighters are desperately putting out the fire.
• 他这种行为就像飞蛾扑火一样，自取灭亡。
  Tā zhè zhǒng xíng wéi jiù xiàng fēi é pū huǒ yí yàng, zì qǔ miè wáng.
  This behavior of his is like a moth flying into a flame — bringing destruction upon himself.
• 消防员扑了一整夜的火才控制住火势。
  Xiāo fáng yuán pū le yì zhěng yè de huǒ cái kòng zhì zhù huǒ shì.
  The firefighters spent a whole night fighting the fire before they got it under control.

Origin