From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisharsonar‧son /ˈɑːsən $ ˈɑːr-/ noun [uncountable] SCCthe crime of deliberately making something burn, especially a building The school was destroyed in an arson attack.► see thesaurus at crime
Examples from the Corpus
arson• Read in studio A school fire in Buckinghamshire which has caused fifty thousand pounds damage is being treated as arson.• Last month Duriez and Tibbles was found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson.• Brooks was arrested for arson in North Carolina.• Bedford Correctional Facility after serving 10 years for arson, .• I was also fairly sure we would find ample evidence of their connections to the increased arson and bombing attacks on clinics.• Police are treating the fire as a case of arson.• Fire experts still haven't ruled out arson.• There were riots, arson, and killings.• The group said that 15 of the arson fires remain unsolved.arson attack• Richard Fielding, 21, has admitted an arson attack that killed seven members of the same family.• The hut at North Park, Darlington, was destroyed in an arson attack last year.• Read in studio An airman who helped destroy evidence after a twenty million pound arson attack has been fined fifteen hundred pounds.• Party workers have been rallying around since last Thursday night's arson attack which caused tens of thousands worth of damage.• Who will pay?: Insurance fears after school arson attack.• It's expected to be some weeks before all the shops damaged in the arson attack can be re-opened.• Ten classrooms were gutted in the arson attack, and three fire fighters were treated for smoke inhalation.Origin arson (1600-1700) Old French ardre “to burn”, from Latin ardere; → ARDENT 