Meanings
- uncountableThe supposed spontaneous combustion of a human being without an apparent external source of ignition.
Winter is the season in which spontaneous human combustion most frequently occurs; because cold air, which is a bad conductor of electricity, favors the ideo-electric state of th animal body.
1829, A London Encyclopaedia, Or Universal Dictionary of Science, Art, Literature, and Practical Mecahnics, volume VI, London: Thomas Tegg, page 243, column 11 more example
Remember the strange case of "spontaneous human combustion", in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1951? Mrs. Mary H. Reeser, 67, was discovered in her apartment where she was almost completely destroyed by fire. Yet, the apartment itself wasn’t damaged and newspapers near the chair in which she was cremated weren’t even scorched! Scientists said it would take unbelievable temperatures to destroy her body so completely, and the fact that nothing else was damaged in the room didn’t make sense at all.
1953, George Hunt Williamson, Other Tongues - Other Flesh, London: Neville Spearman, page 293Synonyms: SHC
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe supposed spontaneous combustion of a human being without an apparent external source of ignition.
Cite this entry
spontaneous human combustion. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spontaneous%20human%20combustion
“spontaneous human combustion.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spontaneous%20human%20combustion. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spontaneous human combustion,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spontaneous%20human%20combustion.
Source: spontaneous human combustion on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.