Polyglot Dictionary

mettre la main au feu

/mɛtʁ la mɛ̃ o fø/

verb B2

le (masc.) la (fem.)

Underline = a spelling pattern that usually signals that gender.

V Register Neutral Era Current Frequency Common Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

present
met la main au feu
past
a mis la main au feu
perfect
mis la main au feu

Meaning

  1. to swear something is true

V Category Action Concreteness Concrete Agency Voluntary Duration Durative Transitivity Transitive

Similar words

jurer

jurer and "mettre la main au feu" are close synonyms for swearing something is true, largely interchangeable, the latter being idiomatic ("put a hand in the fire").

Similar in other languages

Spanish

verificar

Close, figuratively — to swear something is true relates to verifying.

Practice

1 What does mettre la main au feu mean?

2 Fill the gap: Je mettrais ma ___ au feu qu'il dit la vérité.

3 Which fingerprint chart matches mettre la main au feu?

verb

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