spread like wildfire, to
spread like wildfire
To spread, circulate, or propagate very quickly and widely. Likened to the rapid spread of a literal wildfire. News of the scandal spread like wildfire across the news outlets. An outbreak of the deadly virus has been spreading like wildfire through the closely confined camps of refugees.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
spread like wildfire
Fig. [for something] to spread rapidly. Rumors spread like wildfire when people are excited. This disease will spread like wildfire when it gets going.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
spread like wildfire
Disseminate or circulate very quickly, as in The rumor about their divorce spread like wildfire. The noun wildfire means "a raging, rapidly spreading conflagration." [c. 1800]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
spread like wildfire
COMMON If something, especially information or a disease, spreads like wildfire, it very quickly reaches or affects a lot of people. The news of his release spread like wildfire. These stories were spreading like wildfire through the neighbourhood. The virus swept through the team like wildfire. Note: This expression may refer to the way that fires which start in the countryside spread very quickly and are difficult to control.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
spread like wildfire
spread with great speed.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
spread like ˈwildfire
(especially of news or disease) travel or spread very quickly: Rumours about a fall in the price of oil spread like wildfire in the city. ♢ Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
spread like wildfire, to
To disseminate very quickly. Wildfire here denotes a combination of inflammable materials that catch fire very fast. The analogy to less concrete matters was drawn by about 1800. Benjamin Disraeli used it in Venetia (1837): “The report . . . spread like wild fire through the town.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer