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Definition of Spontaneous combustion
1. Noun. Ignition of a substance (as oily rags) resulting from an internal oxidation process.
Definition of Spontaneous combustion
1. Noun. Combustion without an external source of heat. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Medical Definition of Spontaneous combustion
1. A circumstance where a substance or organism takes fire and burns without an exogenous source. Spontaneous human combustion differs from preternatural human combustibility in that in the latter, some spark or trivial flame sets the fire and the body tissues, which have a greatly enhanced inflammability, continue to undergo incineration without any external heat source or combustible materials. (bergman na. Spontaneous human combustion: its role in literature and science. Pharos 1988;fall;51(4):18-21) (12 Dec 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Spontaneous Combustion
Literary usage of Spontaneous combustion
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. All the Year Round by Charles Dickens (1873)
"He contended in addition that spontaneous combustion alone could satisfactorily
explain the circumstances of the case. Supposing that the combustion had ..."
2. Journal by Iron and Steel Institute (1892)
"28-3 23-9 The spontaneous combustion of Coal.—0. ... As a means of judging as to
the probability of the spontaneous combustion of the coal, a determination ..."
3. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1861)
"From Black wood's Magazine. and although, when we come to examine SPONTANEOUS
COMBUSTION. the data on which it is founded, and the In the year 1725 the ..."
4. Friends' Intelligencer by Friends Intelligencer Association (1858)
"spontaneous combustion. How frequently do we read in the newspapers of the outbreak
of conflagrations, more or less devastating in their character, ..."
5. The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge by Charles Anderson Dana (1874)
"il the remains pronounced the case one of spontaneous combustion. In the year
following, Ang. 11, the remains were exhumed, ..."
6. Pharmaceutical Journal by Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (1844)
"spontaneous combustion OF PYROTECHNICAL COMPOUNDS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL
JOURNAL. SIR,—Observing a case of the above nature in the last number ..."
7. Chambers's Encyclopaedia: A Dictionary of Universal Knowledge for the People (1868)
"spontaneous combustion OF THE HUMAN BODY. In medico-legal works, cases are
recorded, generally of a somewhat ancient date, in which it was supposed that the ..."