Word.ws English Dictionary

roman candle

roman candle is the alternative form of Roman-candle.

Meaning of Roman-candle

Verb

Roman-candle (third-person singular simple present Roman-candles, present participle Roman-candling, simple past and past participle Roman-candled)

  1. (figuratively, intransitive) To move from or spin away in the manner of a Roman candle.
    • His canopy had snagged on the tailplane of the aircraft, causing him to Roman-candle into the rocky desert ground.1990, Michael Asher, Shoot to Kill: A Soldier's Journey Through Violence, page 189
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To achieve or attain fame or success quickly and rapidly.
    • […] Roman candled to fame in Gertrude Lawrence's legit musical, "Lady In The Dark," which put Freud in grease-paint.1956, Variety, volume 201, number 5, page 100
  3. (figuratively, transitive) To light up with excitement that lacks of focus or direction.
    • Despite the severe shortage of goose-bump manufacturers of late in our jaded, weary world, music never fails to roman-candle the spine.1974, Holiday, page 30

Noun capitalized: Roman candle

Roman candle (plural Roman candles)

  1. (pyrotechnics) A traditional type of firework that ejects one or more stars or exploding shells.
    • [Karoline] Leavitt threw Roman candles, Catherine wheels and smoke bombs in the air in the hope of distracting reporters. But she was unable to quash the nagging suspicion that Donald Trump has something to hide.2025 September 9, David Smith, “The president doth protest too much: Trump’s denial on Epstein is backfiring”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
  2. A parachute deployment failure in which the parachutist whirls downward at high speed.

Verb (1) capitalized: Roman candle

Roman candle (third-person singular simple present Roman candles, present participle Roman candling, simple past and past participle Roman candled)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of Roman-candle.
    • At first, Cyclops's chute began to Roman candle, but in another moment, it popped.2007, J. Joseph Higgins, The Splat Conspiracy: America in Peril, page 145
    • Canopies used to be made of silk and when they got wet they would not open, leaving the parachutist to “Roman candle” to a certain death.2012, Nigel Cawthorne, The Mammoth Book of Inside the Elite Forces

Verb (2) capitalized: Roman Candle

Roman Candle (third-person singular simple present Roman Candles, present participle Roman Candling, simple past and past participle Roman Candled)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of Roman-candle.
    • I waited and he came to the point: he wanted me simply to talk to a patient he had inherited, a sports parachutist who had Roman Candled into a tree and broken and disarticulated his back.2002, Eric Anderson, The Man Who Cried Orange, page 239
    • Some hit the rocky outcrops
      Some fell into the sea
      Some even 'Roman Candled'
      (A parachutist I would never be)2022, Chris Pratt, Four Brothers in the Pacific War

Forms of roman candle

Verb
third-person singular presentroman candles
present participleroman candling
past participleroman candled
pastroman candled
third-person singular presentRoman candles
present participleRoman candling
past participleRoman candled
pastRoman candled
third-person singular presentRoman Candles
present participleRoman Candling
past participleRoman Candled
pastRoman Candled
Noun
pluralRoman candles

Words formed from roman candle

Questions about roman candle

What does roman candle mean?
Roman candle means a traditional type of firework that ejects one or more stars or exploding shells.
What is roman candle the alternative form of?
Roman candle is the alternative form of Roman-candle.
What part of speech is roman candle?
Roman candle can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of roman candle?
The plural of roman candle is Roman candles.

Words near roman candle in the dictionary

  1. Roman bricks
  2. Roman Bridge
  3. Roman Britain
  4. Roman camomile
  5. Roman camomiles
  6. roman candle
  7. roman candled
  8. roman candles
  9. roman candling
  10. Roman Canon
  11. Roman Catholic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: roman candle (page history and authors); Roman candle (page history and authors); Roman Candle (page history and authors); Roman-candle (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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Cite this entry: “roman candle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/roman_candle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.