towering inferno

plural towering infernos

1. poeticA tall fire, as of a building.

   We fed the campfire until it became a towering inferno before us.

   1 more example

   [T]he most compelling argument for avoiding Chungking Mansion is one of safety — it could be a towering inferno waiting to happen.

   2003, Beth Reiber, Frommer's Hong Kong

2. A powerful, untamed force.

   [A]nyone saying now that humans are a towering inferno of irrationality ought to be challenged, and aggressively so.

   2000, Michael S. Gazzaniga, The Mind's Past