Word.ws English Dictionary

the fat is in the fire

the fat is in the fire phrase: trouble will happen soon.

Phrase

the fat is in the fire

  1. (informal) Trouble will happen soon.
    • If the dear old emotional, pig-headed, Rule-Britannia! public had got it that French spies were stalking through the land at this crisis, then, indeed, the fat would have been in the fire!1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC

Questions about the fat is in the fire

What does the fat is in the fire mean?
The fat is in the fire means trouble will happen soon.
What part of speech is the fat is in the fire?
The fat is in the fire is a phrase.

Words near the fat is in the fire in the dictionary

  1. the family that lays together stays together
  2. the family that prays together stays together
  3. the family that sleeps together keeps together
  4. The Farm
  5. the fat hit the fire
  6. the fat is in the fire
  7. the feathers fly
  8. the feezy
  9. The Few
  10. the fewer the better fare
  11. the Fifth Beatle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: the fat is in the 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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