From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishinfernoin‧fer‧no /ɪnˈfɜːnəʊ $ -ɜːrnoʊ/ noun (plural infernos) [countable] 1 FIREan extremely large and dangerous fire – used especially in news reportsraging/blazing inferno Within minutes, the house had become a raging inferno.► see thesaurus at fire2 literary when someone has very strong feelings that are difficult to control She was desperately trying to calm the inferno raging within her.
Examples from the Corpus
inferno• High winds quickly turned the fire into a deadly inferno.• Eleven homes and several businesses were destroyed in the inferno.• He rushed back into the inferno to rescue his two-year-old sister, Cora, who had been trapped inside.raging/blazing inferno• He had a serious expression on his face and there were no signs that he had just escaped a raging inferno.• Verily, the Academy is a raging inferno of inertia and glazed expressions.• What they saw was a blazing inferno.Origin inferno (1800-1900) Italian “hell”, from Late Latin infernus; → INFERNAL 