Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The irresistible urge to start fires.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A mania for destroying things by fire; a form of insanity marked by a mania for setting things on fire.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun An insane disposition to incendiarism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun psychology A compulsive disorder characterised by obsession with fire or uncontrollable urges to start fires.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an uncontrollable desire to set fire to things

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From pyro- + -mania.

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Examples

  • At one time it was assumed that there was a mental disorder known as pyromania; the pyromaniac was one with an irresistible impulse to light incendiary fires.

    The Sexual Life of the Child Albert Moll 1900

  • Pathological fire-setting, known as pyromania, manifests when the action is

    Sun Journal top news 2010

  • She got Jack Be Nimble to kick his pyromania habit.

    Over the Moon Jodi Picoult 2011

  • It's the perfect justifcation for just about everything, especially pyromania and dirt-bike usage.

    Today's Little Rainbow 2010

  • "This was a good excuse to combine engineering with some Boy Scout pyromania," he said.

    Melons Bursting in Air Rachel Emma Silverman 2011

  • She got Jack Be Nimble to kick his pyromania habit.

    Over the Moon Jodi Picoult 2011

  • She got Jack Be Nimble to kick his pyromania habit.

    Over the Moon Jodi Picoult 2011

  • She got Jack Be Nimble to kick his pyromania habit.

    Over the Moon Jodi Picoult 2011

  • Rihanna collaborates with Eminem for his new video 'Love the Way You Lie,' filled with scenes of domestic violence and pyromania.

    WATCH: Megan Fox Abused In Rihanna & Eminem 'Love The Way You Lie' Video 2010

  • SSRIs also produce kleptomania as seen with the Ryder/Zoloft case observes Henderson, pyromania as seen in an English millionaire who burned down his own house and immolation suicides and a "strange kind" of nymphomania.

    Before You Take That Antidepressant, Visit This Web Site 2010

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