smoul ‧ der BrE AmE British English , smolder American English /ˈsməʊldə $ ˈsmoʊldər/ verb [intransitive]
1 . if something such as wood smoulders, it burns slowly without a flame
2 . literary if someone smoulders, or if their feelings smoulder, they have strong feelings that they do not fully express:
He sensed a smouldering hostility towards him.
smoulder with
She had spent the evening smouldering with resentment.
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THESAURUS
■ to be burning
▪ burn to produce heat and flames:
The fire was still burning.
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A pile of branches was burning in the yard.
▪ be on fire if a building, car, piece of clothing etc is on fire, it is burning and being damaged:
Before long, the neighbouring houses were on fire too.
▪ be alight especially written if something is alight, it is burning:
By the time the fire engines got there, the whole building was already alight.
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The candle was still alight.
▪ be ablaze especially written if something is ablaze, it is burning with a lot of flames, so that it is seriously damaged:
Twelve hours after the bombing raid, many parts of the city were still ablaze.
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The two hundred tonnes of straw were now ablaze and firefighters struggled to get the fire under control.
▪ blaze to burn very brightly with a lot of flames and heat:
A big log fire was blazing in the fireplace.
▪ smoulder British English , smolder American English /ˈsməʊldə $ ˈsmoʊldər/ to burn slowly and continuously, producing smoke but no flames:
A cigarette smouldered in the ashtray.
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The fire in the chemical factory was so intense that it was still smouldering a week later.
▪ flicker if a fire or flame flickers, it burns with an unsteady light that appears and disappears quickly:
A welcoming fire flickered in the grate.
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Inside the shrine candles flicker next to statues of saints.