Idioms

playing with fire

This page is about the idiom playing with fire

Meaning

You're playing with fire if you're involved in an activity that could be dangerous, or could lead to problems in the future.

For example

  • You're really playing with fire if you have loaded guns in the house, especially if there are kids around.

  • Suzie says that if someone with mental or emotional problems smokes marijuana, they're playing with fire. She says it can make these problems much worse.

Note:
This is usually used in continuous tenses, such as "We are playing with fire if we..." or "They should have known they were playing with fire."

Quick Quiz

People who keep loaded guns in the house are playing with fire because the guns

a. might be too heavy

b. could go off accidentally and kill someone

c. would go rusty
a) might be too heavy b) could go off accidentally and kill someone c) would go rusty

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Common English Idioms

Contributor: Matt Errey