火冒三丈

huǒ mào sān zhàng

to flare up in anger

Character by character

火huǒ
fire

冒mào
shoot up

三sān
three

丈zhàng
zhang

一看到满地的垃圾，他就火冒三丈。

The moment he saw rubbish all over the floor, he blew his top.

Tone: neutral.

The fire of anger shoots three 丈 (about ten metres) high; colloquial.

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