Definition
火上浇油 is a four-character idiom (成语) meaning literally 'to pour oil on the fire'. It's used metaphorically for making a bad situation worse — deliberately aggravating someone's anger or escalating a conflict. You can use it as a verb phrase in a sentence, often with 在 or 给 to indicate the person or situation being worsened.
f.e.
to add fuel to the fireto aggravate the situation
Examples
- ，火上浇油。Tā zhèngzài qìtóu shàng, nǐ bié zài shuō huǒ shàng jiāo yóu de huà le.He's already furious — don't say anything that would add fuel to the fire.
- ，火上浇油。Fūqī chǎojià shí, wàirén zuì hǎo bùyào huǒ shàng jiāo yóu.When a couple is arguing, outsiders had better not pour oil on the fire.
- ，火上浇油。Tā běnlái jiù hěn jiāolǜ, nǐ zhèyàng zuò jiǎnzhí shì huǒ shàng jiāo yóu.He was already anxious — what you did was simply adding fuel to the fire.
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