Fire

['faɪə] or [faɪr]

Definition

(noun.) the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy; 'hold your fire until you can see the whites of their eyes'; 'they retreated in the face of withering enemy fire'.

(noun.) a fireplace in which a relatively small fire is burning; 'they sat by the fire and talked'.

(noun.) intense adverse criticism; 'Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party'; 'the government has come under attack'; 'don't give me any flak'.

(noun.) the event of something burning (often destructive); 'they lost everything in the fire'.

(noun.) a severe trial; 'he went through fire and damnation'.

(noun.) the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke; 'fire was one of our ancestors' first discoveries'.

(noun.) fuel that is burning and is used as a means for cooking; 'put the kettle on the fire'; 'barbecue over an open fire'.

(noun.) once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles).

(verb.) bake in a kiln so as to harden; 'fire pottery'.

(verb.) cause to go off; 'fire a gun'; 'fire a bullet'.

(verb.) go off or discharge; 'The gun fired'.

(verb.) drive out or away by or as if by fire; 'The soldiers were fired'; 'Surrender fires the cold skepticism'.

Checked by Llewellyn--From WordNet

Definition

(n.) The evolution of light and heat in the combustion of bodies; combustion; state of ignition.

(n.) Fuel in a state of combustion, as on a hearth, or in a stove or a furnace.

(n.) The burning of a house or town; a conflagration.

(n.) Anything which destroys or affects like fire.

(n.) Ardor of passion, whether love or hate; excessive warmth; consuming violence of temper.

(n.) Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm; capacity for ardor and zeal.

(n.) Splendor; brilliancy; luster; hence, a star.

(n.) Torture by burning; severe trial or affliction.

(n.) The discharge of firearms; firing; as, the troops were exposed to a heavy fire.

(v. t.) To set on fire; to kindle; as, to fire a house or chimney; to fire a pile.

(v. t.) To subject to intense heat; to bake; to burn in a kiln; as, to fire pottery.

(v. t.) To inflame; to irritate, as the passions; as, to fire the soul with anger, pride, or revenge.

(v. t.) To animate; to give life or spirit to; as, to fire the genius of a young man.

(v. t.) To feed or serve the fire of; as, to fire a boiler.

(v. t.) To light up as if by fire; to illuminate.

(v. t.) To cause to explode; as, to fire a torpedo; to disharge; as, to fire a musket or cannon; to fire cannon balls, rockets, etc.

(v. t.) To drive by fire.

(v. t.) To cauterize.

(v. i.) To take fire; to be kindled; to kindle.

(v. i.) To be irritated or inflamed with passion.

(v. i.) To discharge artillery or firearms; as, they fired on the town.

Edited by Glenn

Synonyms and Synonymous

n. [1]. Conflagration.[2]. Heat, ardor, fervor.[3]. [Poetical.] Light, lustre, radiance.

v. a. [1]. Kindle, set on fire.[2]. Animate, excite, inspirit, rouse, inflame, stir up.[3]. Discharge, fire off.

v. n. [1]. Take fire, be kindled.[2]. Discharge a gun, discharge firearms.

Edited by Augustus

Synonyms and Antonyms

[See FIERY]

Edited by Kitty

Definition

n. the heat and light caused by burning: flame: anything burning as fuel in a grate &c.: a conflagration: torture or death by burning: severe trial: anything inflaming or provoking: ardour of passion: vigour: brightness of fancy: enthusiasm: sexual passion.—v.t. to set on fire: to inflame: to irritate: to animate: to cause the explosion of: to discharge.—v.i. to take fire: to be or become irritated or inflamed: to discharge firearms.—n. Fire′-alarm′ an alarm of fire an apparatus for giving such.—n.pl. Fire′arms arms or weapons which are discharged by fire exploding gunpowder.—ns. Fire′-ar′row a small iron dart or arrow furnished with a combustible for setting fire to ships; Fire′ball a ball filled with combustibles to be thrown among enemies: a meteor; Fire′-balloon′ a balloon carrying a fire placed in the lower part for rarefying the air to make itself buoyant: a balloon sent up arranged to ignite at a certain height; Fire′-bas′ket a portable grate for a bedroom; Fire′-blast a blast or blight affecting plants in which they appear as if scorched by the sun; Fire′-boat a steamboat fitted up to extinguish fires in docks; Fire′box the box or chamber (usually copper) of a steam-engine in which the fire is placed; Fire′brand a brand or piece of wood on fire: one who inflames the passions of others; Fire′brick a brick so made as to resist the action of fire used for lining furnaces &c.; Fire′-brigade′ a brigade or company of men for extinguishing fires or conflagrations; Fire′-buck′et a bucket for carrying water to extinguish a fire; Fire′clay a kind of clay capable of resisting fire used in making firebricks; Fire′cock a cock or spout to let out water for extinguishing fires; Fire′damp a gas carburetted hydrogen in coal-mines apt to take fire and explode when mixed with atmospheric air; Fire′-dog (same as Andiron); Fire′-drake a fiery meteor a kind of firework; Fire′-eat′er a juggler who pretends to eat fire: one given to needless quarrelling a professed duellist; Fire′-en′gine an engine or forcing-pump used to extinguish fires with water; Fire′-escape′ a machine used to enable people to escape from fires.—adj. Fire′-eyed (Shak.) having fiery eyes.—ns. Fire′-flag (Coleridge) Fire′flaught (Swinburne) a flash of lightning; Fire′-fly a name applied to many phosphorescent insects all included with the Coleoptera or beetles some giving forth a steady light others flashing light intermittently (glow-worms &c.); Fire′-guard a framework of wire placed in front of a fireplace.—n.pl. Fire′-ī′rons the irons—poker tongs and shovel—used for a fire.—ns. Fire′light′er a composition of pitch and sawdust or the like for kindling fires; Fire′lock a gun in which the fire is caused by a lock with steel and flint; Fire′man a man whose business it is to assist in extinguishing fires: a man who tends the fires as of a steam-engine; Fire′-mas′ter the chief of a fire-brigade.—adj. Fire′-new new from the fire: brand new: bright.—ns. Fire′-pan a pan or metal vessel for holding fire; Fire′place the place in a house appropriated to the fire: a hearth; Fire′plug a plug placed in a pipe which supplies water in case of fire; Fire′-pol′icy a written instrument of insurance against fire up to a certain amount; Fire′-pot an earthen pot filled with combustibles used in military operations.—adj. Fire′proof proof against fire.—ns. Fire′-proofing the act of rendering anything fireproof: the materials used; Fir′er an incendiary; Fire′-rais′ing the crime of arson.—adj. Fire′-robed (Shak.) robed in fire.—ns. Fire′-screen a screen for intercepting the heat of the fire; Fire′-ship a ship filled with combustibles to set an enemy's vessels on fire; Fire′side the side of the fireplace: the hearth: home.—adj. homely intimate.—ns. Fire′-stick the implement used by many primitive peoples for obtaining fire by friction; Fire′stone a kind of sandstone that bears a high degree of heat; Fire′-wa′ter ardent spirits; Fire′wood wood for burning.—n.pl. Fire′works artificial works or preparations of gunpowder sulphur &c. to be fired chiefly for display or amusement.—ns. Fire′-wor′ship the worship of fire chiefly by the Parsees in Persia and India; Fire′-wor′shipper; Fir′ing a putting fire to: discharge of guns: firewood: fuel: cauterisation; Fir′ing-par′ty a detachment told off to fire over the grave of one buried with military honours or to shoot one sentenced to death; Fir′ing-point the temperature at which an inflammable oil will take fire spontaneously.—Fire off to discharge a shot; Fire out (Shak.) to expel; Fire up to start a fire: to fly into a passion.—Set the Thames on fire to do something striking; Take fire to begin to burn: to become aroused about something.

Checked by Gerald