inferno

Definition

A place or situation resembling Hell.

Etymology

From Italian inferno (“hell”), from Latin infernus (“of the lower regions”), inferna (“the lower regions”); see infernal. The meaning "big fire" came as a figurative use from the traditional idea of hellfire.

Example Sentences

• "At each sudden explosion in the inferno below they sprang back from the brink [of the volcanic crater]."
• "When Jurgis had first inspected the packing plants with Szedvilas, he […] found that each one of these lesser industries was a separate little inferno, in its way as horrible as the killing beds, the source and fountain of them all[, and t]he workers in each of them had their own peculiar diseases."
• "The inferno ripped through the forest, destroying anything in its path."

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