Definition of "brushfire" [brushfire]

• A fire in low-growing, scrubby trees and brush. (noun)
• A relatively minor crisis. (noun)
• Minor enough to involve only small-scale mobilization of counteracting resources: brushfire wars. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The land around the Woodglen Community Homeowners Association has now been identified as a brushfire area and brush needs to be cut back as well, he said."
• "CROWLEY: Just days for the Texas and Ohio primaries that could end or revitalize her campaign, Clinton does not need the kind of brushfire set off by a high-profile Latina supporter who told a Texas television station Obama has a problem with the Latino community because he's black."
• "What they both fear is any kind of brushfire which might ignite from supporters or elsewhere."