Word of the Day
June 4, 2026
Brushfire
A fire in low-growing brush, scrub, or grassland; figuratively, a small or fast-spreading crisis, or a fervor that catches and spreads from person to person.
A compound of 'brush,' meaning cut branches or undergrowth (from the Old French broce, 'brushwood'), and 'fire.'
Usage Examples
- Kim called the growing citizen movement against the Wyoming wind wall a brushfire spreading from ranch to ranch.
- A single letter to the editor set off a brushfire of public comment at the county hearing.
- Samuel Adams urged a tireless minority to set brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.
From the Show
Kim Monson chose the word brushfire after Samuel Adams’ line about an irate, tireless minority setting brush fires of freedom in the minds of men. She used it to describe the spreading citizen movement that Wendy Volk and Karen Gordey have helped lead against industrial wind projects and large-scale rezoning. Find the word at work in The Wyoming Wind Wall, Golden Eagles, and the Price of Green Mandates.