发火 (fā huǒ) — to get angry, to lose one's temper; to catch fire, to ignite
Definition
Two distinct senses: 'to get angry' (lose one's temper — stronger/flashier than 生气, more colloquial than 发怒) and 'to catch fire / ignite' (similar to 着火, but 着火 emphasizes the resulting fire while 发火 emphasizes the ignition moment).
verb
to get angryto lose one's temperto catch fireto ignite
Easily confused
Examples
- 发火。Bié wèi zhè zhǒng xiǎo shì fā huǒ.Don't get angry over such a small thing.
- ，。Tā jīn tiān fā le yí cì huǒ, bǎ dà jiā dōu xià dào le.He lost his temper once today and scared everyone.
- 发火。Huǒ chái yì huá jiù fā huǒ le.The match caught fire as soon as it was struck.
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