flame war

Definition

An argument consisting entirely or largely of flames by various parties that serve only to escalate the dispute.

Etymology

From flame + war.

Example Sentences

• "Remember, Smokey the Bear says, "Only you can prevent flame wars"."
• "That post was the starting point for a flame war between Linux creator Linus Torvalds and Tanenbaum and a bunch of other enthusiasts, who later became the first Linux developers."