See Also: fire ant(encyclopedia)
fire(2)(dictionary)
fire(1)(dictionary)
fire(encyclopedia)
Ant, fire(health)
fire ant(dictionary)
pin-fire(1)(dictionary)
Fire(money)
pin-fire(2)(dictionary)
Fire and Ice(recipes)

fire(1) (iou)



fire noun.
[Old English fr = Old Frisian, Old Saxon fiur (Dutch vuur), Old High German fiur, fuir (German Feuer) from West Germanic base, corresp. to Greek pur.]
The active principle operative in combustion, manifested as a hot bright shifting body of gas or as incandescence; such gas or incandescence. (One of the four elements of the ancients.) OE.
J. Mabbe A face as red as fire.
b. spec. The burning flame(s) of hell or purgatory. OE.
c. Volcanic heat; a flow of lava. Formerly also, a volcanic eruption. L16.
Fuel in a state of combustion; a mass of burning material in a grate, furnace, etc.; a heater with a flame or incandescent element. OE.
electric fire, gas fire, open fire, etc.
F. M. Ford The fire..was burning brightly; she must have just put coals on. fig.: Pope Some spark of your celestial fire.
b. Fuel as a means of making a fire or setting something alight, esp. fuel that is already burning. obsolete exc. dial. OE.
c. In full Greek fire. A flammable composition for setting light to enemy ships, works, etc., first used by the Greeks of Constantinople. obsolete exc. Hist. ME.
Destructive burning, esp. of a large mass or area; a conflagration. As interjection, warning of a fire. ME.
S. Johnson Now a rabble rages, now a fire.
Lightning; a flash of lightning; a thunderbolt. ME.
Fever, inflammation; disease as a consuming agency. arch. ME.
a. A burning passion or emotion. ME.
Shakespeare Merry Wives of Windsor The wicked fire of lust.
b. Ardour of temperament; zeal, fervour, enthusiasm. E17.
M. Ayrton She's got no fire, Estelle, no go, no zing.
c. Liveliness of imagination; vivacity; poetic inspiration. M17.
State of combustion. Chiefly in on fire below. LME.
Luminosity; a glowing or flashing appearance resembling that of fire. M16.
W. Black A great fire of sunset spread over the west.
The action of firing guns etc. L16.
J. G. Farrell Rifle and revolver fire was almost continuous during..the night.
A flare, a firework; the flammable composition used in a firework or other combustible device. Orig. & now only in false fire s.v. FALSE adjective. E17.
Torture or death by burning. Now rare. M17.
The heating quality in liquors etc.; joc. a warming drink of liquor etc. M18.
Cricket. The tendency of a ball to fly up erratically, or of a wicket etc. to cause the ball to fly up. L19.
Phrases etc.: ball of fire: see BALL noun1 3. between two fires shot at or attacked from two directions. BONFIRE. catch fire: see CATCH verb. cease fire, cease-fire: see CEASE verb. coal of fire: see COAL noun 1. fire and brimstone torment in hell. fire and sword burning and slaughter, esp. by an invading army. fire in one's belly, fire in the belly ambition, driving force, initiative. fires of heaven poet. the stars. give fire (to) set alight, kindle. go on fire (chiefly Scot. & Anglo-Irish) begin to burn. go through fire (and water) encounter or face all dangers, submit to the severest ordeal. Great Fire: see GREAT adjective. Greek fire: see sense 2c above. hang fire: see HANG verb. heap coals of fire on a person's head: see COAL noun. heavenly fires poet. the stars. holy fire: see HOLY adjective. indirect fire: see INDIRECT adjective. Kentish fire: see KENTISH adjective. line of fire: see LINE noun2. miss fire: see MISS verb1. no smoke without fire no rumour without some basis in fact. on fire ignited, burning, (like a house on fire: see HOUSE noun1); fig. inflamed with passion, anger, zeal, etc. open fire: see OPEN adjective. out of the frying-pan into the fire, out of the pan into the fire: see PAN noun1. play with fire trifle with dangerous matters. pull out of the fire = snatch out of the fire below. pull the chestnuts out of the fire: see CHESTNUT noun. Ring of Fire: see RING noun1. running fire: see RUNNING adjective. save out of the fire preserve as a remnant from a disaster. set fire to, set fire in, set fire on apply fire to, cause to start burning, kindle, ignite. set on fire ignite, kindle; fig. inflame. set the Thames on fire, set the world on fire do something remarkable, make an impact, (usu. in neg. contexts). snatch out of the fire rescue from disaster or ruin. St Anthony's fire, St Elmo's fire: see SAINT noun & adjective. strike fire elicit sparks by friction or by a blow. take fire begin to burn. the fat is in the fire: see FAT noun2. under fire being shot at; fig. being adversely criticized etc. wandering fire: see WANDERING ppl adjective. where's the fire? joc. what's the hurry? WILDFIRE.
Comb.: fire-alarm a device for or means of giving warning of fire; fire ant a tropical American ant of the genus Solenopsis, having a painful and sometimes dangerous sting; esp. S. invicta, which has become a serious pest in the south-eastern US; fireback (a) (a metal plate for) the back wall of an open hearth; (b) (also fireback pheasant) either of two pheasants of SE Asia, Lophura ignita and L. erythrophthalma; fire-balloon a hot-air balloon whose buoyancy is derived from a fire burning at its mouth; fire-bird any of various small birds with bright orange or red plumage, esp. (US) the Baltimore oriole; fire-blanket a sheet of usu. fireproof material with which to smother a fire in an emergency; fire-blight: see pear-blight s.v. PEAR noun; fireboard a board used to close up a fireplace; US a mantelpiece; fire-bomb noun & verb (a) noun an incendiary bomb; (b) verb trans. attack or destroy with a fire-bomb or fire-bombs; firebrat a bristletail, Thermobia domestica, which frequents warm places in houses; fire-break an obstacle preventing the spread of (esp. grass or forest) fires, as an area of cleared or ploughed land; fire-brick a brick capable of standing intense heat without burning, used in grates etc.; fire brigade an organized body of people trained and employed to extinguish fires; fire-bug colloq. an incendiary, an arsonist; fire certificate: confirming that current statutory fire regulations have been complied with at a particular premises; fireclay clay of a kind used for making fire-bricks; fire company (a) a section of a fire brigade; (b) a fire-insurance company; fire-control a system of regulating the firing of guns from a ship or fort; the station from which such control is exercised; fire coral a branched stinging coral of the genus Millepora and suborder Milleporina; fire-crack a crack caused by heat, esp. one which occurs in metal being reheated or annealed; firecracker (chiefly N. Amer.) an explosive firework; firecrest a kinglet, Regulus ignicapillus, with a golden crest, found in woods and forests in central and southern Europe and Asia Minor; fire cross = fiery cross s.v. FIERY adjective; fire-cure verb trans. cure (esp. tobacco or leather) over a fire; fire-curtain (a) a fireproof curtain in a theatre etc.; (b) Military = CURTAIN noun 7; firedamp (a miner's name for) methane, which is explosive when mixed in a certain proportion with air; fire department N. Amer. a fire brigade; fire-discipline Military the training of soldiers to fire exactly as commanded, so that their actions are coordinated; firedog: see DOG noun 7; fire door a fireproof door to inhibit or prevent the spread of fire; fire-drill (a) a simple device for kindling fire consisting of a pointed stick and a piece of wood; (b) a rehearsal of the procedure to be used in case of fire; fire engine (a) a vehicle carrying equipment to fight and extinguish fires; (b) (obsolete exc. local) a steam engine; fire-escape an emergency staircase, esp. on the outside of a building, enabling people to escape should fire break out; an apparatus serving the same purpose; fire exit a passage or door to go through to escape from fire; fire extinguisher an apparatus with a jet for discharging liquid chemicals, foam, etc., in order to extinguish fire; fire-eyed adjective (poet.) having eyes glowing as with fire; fire-fight Military a struggle to establish superiority of fire-power over an enemy; a fight involving fire or firearms; fire-fighter a person whose task is to extinguish fires; a member of a fire brigade; fire-fighting the extinguishing of fires; firefinch any of various small African songbirds of the genus Lagonosticta, of the waxbill family, the males of which have mainly pink or reddish plumage; firefish any of several scorpion fishes with venomous spines, esp. of the genera Pterois and Dendrochirus; firefly a winged nocturnal beetle that emits light, usu. in flashes, found esp. in the tropics; spec. one of the family Lampyridae; fire-fork (obsolete exc. dial. or Hist.) a fork-shaped instrument for stirring up a fire, putting on fuel, etc.; fire-guard (a) a protective (usu. meshed) framework or grating, placed in front of an open fire in a room; (b) N. Amer. = fire-watcher below; (c) N. Amer. = fire-break above; fire hall N. Amer. a fire station; fire-hearth (a) a brick or stone area on which a fire is made; the hearth in front of a fireplace; (b) a cooking range or stove on a ship; fire-hose a hose-pipe for extinguishing fires; firehouse (a) (obsolete exc. dial. or Hist.) a house with a fireplace in it; the room in a house where the family fire was; (b) US a fire station; fire-hunting US (a) the firing of timber to drive out game; (b) hunting at night with lights; fire hydrant: see HYDRANT; fire insurance insurance against losses by fire; firelight (a) lightning; (b) the light given by a fire or fires; fire-lighter (a) a person who kindles a fire; (b) material for lighting fires, esp. a piece of flammable material used to help start a fire in a grate; fire-line (a) a fire-break; (b) a fire station telephone line for operation (not administrative) use; fire-master (a) an officer of artillery who superintended the manufacture of explosives or fireworks; (b) (chiefly Scot.) the chief officer of a fire brigade; fire-new adjective (arch.) brand-new; fire-office an office or company dealing in fire insurance; fire-opal a girasol; fire-pan a receptacle for holding or carrying fire; a brazier, a portable grate; fire pink a N. American campion, Silene virginica, with narrow scarlet petals; fire-plough a simple device for making fire, similar to a fire-drill; fire-plug: see PLUG noun 2; fire-policy a certificate from a fire-office guaranteeing compensation in case of fire; fire-position Military the position from which an attacking force opens fire during an advance; fire-power (a) Military the ability of the guns and missiles of a military force to inflict destruction; (b) fig. financial, emotional, or intellectual strength; fire-practice = fire-drill (b) above; fireproof adjective & verb trans. (make) able to resist fire or great heat; fireproofing (a) making proof against fire; (b) material used to make something fireproof; fire-raid an air raid with incendiary bombs; fire-raiser an arsonist; fire-raising arson, incendiarism; fire-ranger N. Amer. an official who keeps watch against the occurrence of forest fires; fire-red adjective & noun (a) adjective red like fire; reddened by fire; (b) noun (Commerce) a brilliant red pigment with a strong resistance to oil and light; fire-risk (a) the risk of loss by fire; (b) the obligation of a fire-insurance company to make good loss by fire; (c) a property insured against fire, esp. one which is likely to go on fire; an object, state of affairs, etc., conducive to the outbreak of a fire; fire-room (a) a room containing a fireplace; (b) the furnace-room of a building or stokehold of a ship; fire salamander a robust short-tailed salamander, Salamandra salamandra, that has black skin with bright red, orange, and yellow markings, native to upland forests of Europe, NW Africa, and SW Asia; fire sale a sale of goods (freq. at low prices) remaining after the destruction of commercial premises by fire; fire-screen (a) a movable screen to keep off the direct heat of a fire; (b) = fire-guard (a) above; (c) an ornamental screen placed in front of a fireplace when the fire is unlit; fire-ship (a) Hist. a ship loaded with combustibles etc. and set adrift among enemy ships etc. to ignite and destroy them; (b) arch. slang a person with venereal disease; a prostitute; fire-shovel: for putting coal etc. on a fire or for removing coal or ashes; fire station a building where a fire brigade is based, housing fire engines etc.; fire-step = FIRING-step; fire-stick (a) a burning brand; (b) = fire-drill (a) above; (c) an implement for stirring up a fire; fire-storm (a) poet. a storm of fire; (b) an intense conflagration into which surrounding air is drawn with great force, esp. resulting from incendiary or nuclear bombing; fire-swallower = FIRE-EATER 1; fire-tongs: for grasping coal etc.; fire-trap a building etc. without proper fire exits and in which a fire, once started, would spread easily; fire-tree NZ = POHUTUKAWA; fire-vessel (a) a receptacle for fire; (b) Hist. = fire-ship (a) above; fire-walk the ceremony of fire-walking; fire-walker a person who takes part in a fire-walk; fire-walking walking barefoot over hot stones, ashes, etc., a religious rite in Fiji and elsewhere, and formerly an ordeal in European countries; firewall (a) a fireproof wall to inhibit or prevent the spread of fire; (b) Computing a part of a computer system or network which is designed to block unauthorized access while permitting outward communication; fire warden N. Amer. an official employed to prevent or extinguish fires; fire-watcher a person engaged in fire-watching; fire-watching (a) tending a fire; (b) keeping watch for fires, esp. those caused by bombs; fire-water colloq. strong alcoholic liquor; fireweed any of several plants that spring up on burnt land; spec. rosebay willowherb; firewoman a female fire-fighter; firewood wood prepared for burning, fuel; fire-worship the treatment of fire as a god; popularly Zoroastrianism; fire-worshipper a person who treats fire as a god; popularly a Zoroastrian.