Word.ws English Dictionary

get on like a house on fire

get on like a house on fire verb: to immediately start a good relationship with someone.

Verb

get on like a house on fire (third-person singular simple present gets on like a house on fire, present participle getting on like a house on fire, simple past got on like a house on fire, past participle (UK) got on like a house on fire or (US) gotten on like a house on fire)

  1. (simile) To immediately start a good relationship with someone.
    • Those two met last Saturday at the party, and because they were both into juggling they got on like a house on fire.
    • They've obviously never met before, but are getting on like a house on fire. Both are well-spoken and versed in the Queen's English.2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 52

Forms of get on like a house on fire

third-person singular presentgets on like a house on fire
present participlegetting on like a house on fire
pastgot on like a house on fire
past participle UKgot on like a house on fire
past participle USgotten on like a house on fire

Origin of get on like a house on fire

By metaphor, reflecting the notion that housefires are archetypally roaringly quick and robust.

Questions about get on like a house on fire

What does get on like a house on fire mean?
Get on like a house on fire means to immediately start a good relationship with someone.
What part of speech is get on like a house on fire?
Get on like a house on fire is a verb.
What is the past tense of get on like a house on fire?
The past tense of get on like a house on fire is got on like a house on fire.

Words near get on like a house on fire in the dictionary

  1. get off the nut
  2. get off with
  3. get on
  4. get on at
  5. get on it
  6. get on like a house on fire
  7. get on someone's bad side
  8. get on someone's case
  9. get on someone's grill
  10. get on someone's last nerve
  11. get on someone's nerves

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: get on like a house on fire (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-get on like a house on fire.ogg.

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