Meanings
present singular third person sets the Thames on fire · participle present setting the Thames on fire
- idiomaticTo achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim.
The baronet will never set the Thames on fire, but there seems no harm in him.
1817 (date written), [Jane Austen], Persuasion; published in Northanger Abbey: And Persuasion. […], volume (please specify |volume=III or IV), London: John Murray, […], 20 December 1817 (indicated as 1818), →OCLC3 more examples
They intend to send a wire / To the moon — to the moon; / And they'll set the Thames on fire / Very soon — very soon
1884, WS Gilbert, ‘Princess Ida’, The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan, Oxford University Press, published 1996, page 491Do you remember when you jumped into the water after the flowers? I fancy it was then you really set the Thames on fire.
1925, GK Chesterton, “The Ultimate Ultimatum of the League of the Long Bow”, in The Collected Works, Ignatius Press, published 2005, page 402My head is spinning round / my heart is in my shoes, yeah / I went and set the Thames on fire, oh / now I must come back down.
1985, Tom Waits, “Anywhere I Lay My Head”Synonyms: set the world on fire
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo achieve something amazing but to a nearly-impossible degree; to do something which brings great public acclaim.
Origin
Unknown. Suggested to derive from a misconstrual of temse (“sieve”): thus, to work so vigorously as to heat a sieve by friction. Alternatively, a reference to lightning strikes which sometimes occurred along the Thames, occasionally setting trees on fire or causing death in unusual manner. Otherwise simply by hyperbole, from the improbability of setting a river on fire (although the image might sound like a familiar reference to the Great London fire of 1666).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 引起轰动, 惊人之举
- 引起轰动 (yǐnqǐhōngdòng)to achieve something amazing
- 惊人之举 (jīngrénzhījǔ)to achieve something amazing
French casser trois pattes à un canard
- casser trois pattes à un canardto achieve something amazing
German die Welt aus den Angeln heben
- die Welt aus den Angeln hebento achieve something amazing
Hindi अनोखा काम करना
- अनोखा काम करना (anokhā kām karnā)to achieve something amazing
Italian far faville, vendere ghiaccio agli eschimesi
- far favilleto achieve something amazing
- vendere ghiaccio agli eschimesito achieve something amazing
Portuguese meter uma lança em África
- meter uma lança em Áfricato achieve something amazing
Russian вы́думать по́рох, доста́ть луну с неба
- вы́думать по́рох (výdumatʹ pórox)to achieve something amazing
- доста́ть луну с неба (dostátʹ lunu s neba)to achieve something amazing
- дотяну́ться до звёзд (dotjanútʹsja do zvjozd)to achieve something amazing
Spanish encender la pradera
- encender la praderato achieve something amazing
Vietnamese long trời lở đất, kinh thiên động địa
- long trời lở đấtto achieve something amazing
- kinh thiên động địato achieve something amazing
- thành công rực rỡto achieve something amazing
Cite this entry
set the Thames on fire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20the%20Thames%20on%20fire
“set the Thames on fire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20the%20Thames%20on%20fire. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “set the Thames on fire,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/set%20the%20Thames%20on%20fire.
Source: set the Thames on fire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.