fire
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈfaɪ.ə/
ipa: [faɪ̯ə]
note: triphthong smoothing
ipa: [ˈfaːə]
note: triphthong smoothing
ipa: [ˈfaː]
note: triphthong smoothing
ipa: [ˈfɑə]
note: triphthong smoothing
ipa: [ˈfɑːə]
enpr: fīʹər
enpr: fīr
ipa: /ˈfaɪ.ɚ/
ipa: [ˈfaɪ̯ɚ]
ipa: /ˈfaɪɹ/
ipa: [ˈfäːɚ]
ipa: [fʌɪ̯ɚ]
ipa: /ˈfaɪ.ə/
ipa: [ˈfɑe̯ə]
note: Dublin
ipa: /ˈfo̞ɪ.ɚ/
note: Dublin
ipa: /ˈfəɪ.ɚ/
note: Dublin
ipa: /ˈfo̞ɪ.ɐ/
note: Dublin
ipa: /ˈfəɪ.ɐ/
rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: fires
form: fier
form: 🜂
Etymology: From Middle English fyr, from Old English fȳr (“fire”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuir, from *fuïr, a regularised form of Proto-Germanic *fōr (“fire”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥.
See also Saterland Frisian Fjuur, West Frisian fjoer, Dutch vuur, Low German Füer, German Feuer, Danish fyr. Also, compare Hittite 𒉺𒄴𒄯 (paḫḫur), Umbrian pir, Tocharian A/B por/puwar, Czech pýř (“hot ashes”), Russian пуры́нь (purýnʹ), Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”), and Armenian հուր (hur, “fire”). This was an inanimate noun whose animate counterpart was Proto-Indo-European *h₁n̥gʷnis (see ignite). Cognate to pyre.
Senses: glosses: A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering.
examples: text: We sat about the fire singing songs and telling tales.
text: We toted in the wood and got the fire going nice and comfortable. Lord James still set in one of the chairs and Applegate had cabbaged the other and was hugging the stove.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: An instance of this chemical reaction, especially when intentionally created and maintained in a specific location to a useful end (such as a campfire or a hearth fire).
examples: text: There was a fire at the school last night and the whole place burned down.
text: During hot and dry summers many fires in forests are caused by regardlessly discarded cigarette butts.
text: Efforts to fight the fires in New South Wales and Victoria were hampered as large fires converged and created their own violent weather systems. The fire created dry lightning storms so severe that planes had to be grounded.
ref: 2020 January 1, Bernard Lagan, “Thousands flee to beaches as the flames close in”, in The Times, number 73,044, page 24:
glosses: The occurrence, often accidental, of fire in a certain place, causing damage and danger.
topics: alchemy
human-sciences
philosophy
pseudoscience
sciences
glosses: The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
glosses: A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire).
examples: text: The fire was laid and needed to be lit.
glosses: The elements necessary to start a fire.
examples: text: The fire from the enemy guns kept us from attacking.
glosses: The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun or other ranged weapon.
examples: text: We dominated the battlespace with our fires.
glosses: A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such.
examples: text: I used to work at Five Below but now I keep that fire below
ref: 2023 June 23, “Special K” (track 7), in BLP Kosher (lyrics), Bars Mitzva, 2:01:
qualifier: African-American Vernacular
glosses: A firearm.
examples: text: In the district of Erfurt a very heavy sheaf [...] is called the Great Mother, and is carried on the last waggon to the barn, where all hands lift it down amid a fire of jokes.
ref: 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 7, page 136:
glosses: A barrage, volley
examples: text: static fire
topics: aerospace
astronautics
business
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: An instance of firing one or more rocket engines.
examples: text: He had fire in his temper.
ref: 1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Sheldonian] Theater, →OCLC:
text: You call it hope—that fire of fire!
It is but agony of desire: […]
ref: 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
glosses: Strength of passion, whether love or hate.
examples: text: And bless their critic with a poet's fire.
ref: 1711 May, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Criticism, London: […] W[illiam] Lewis […]; and sold by W[illiam] Taylor […], T[homas] Osborn[e] […], and J[ohn] Graves […], →OCLC:
text: Attendance of QN meetings has been dwindling, and the creative fire drained from the organization by the dead hand of wannabe bureaucrats bend ^([sic]) on thought control. The action has long since been elsewhere.
ref: 1991 December 15, Michael Halberstadt, “Queer Proposals?”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 22, page 5:
glosses: Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm.
examples: text: Stars, hide your fires.
ref: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:
text: As in a zodiac representing the heavenly fires.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book XII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
glosses: Splendour; brilliancy; lustre; hence, a star.
glosses: A severe trial; anything inflaming or provoking.
glosses: Red coloration in a piece of opal.
examples: text: In other words, the more times a light ray reflects within a diamond, the greater the separation of the spectral colors—and the more obvious the appearance of fire—will be. Fire in a gemstone is best defined as "the visible extent of light dispersed into spectral colors" (Reinitz et al., 2001). In a polished diamond, this is seen as flares or flashes of color that appear and disappear as the diamond, the observer, or the light source moves.
ref: 2009 December, Al Gilbertson, Benjamin Gudlewski, Mary Johnson, George Maltezos, Axel Scherer, James Shigley, “Cutting Diffraction Gratings to Improve Dispersion (“Fire”) in Diamonds”, in Gems & Gemology, volume 45, number 4, Gemological Institute of America, →DOI, archived from the original on 30 Jul 2024, pages 260–270:
topics: gemology
geography
geology
jewelry
lifestyle
natural-sciences
glosses: The capacity of a gemstone, especially a faceted, cut gemstone, that is transparent to visible light, to disperse white light into its multispectral component parts, resulting in a flash of different colors, the richness and dispersion of which increases the gemstone's value.
Synonyms: blaze
flame
conflagration
inferno
Derived terms: a burnt child dreads the fire
add fuel to fire
add fuel to the fire
afire
all-fire
antifire
anti-fire
autofire
back fire
balefire
ball of fire
baptism by fire
baptism of fire
Bengal fire
bin fire
black imported fire ant
blue fire
bone-fire
bone fire
bonfire
breathe fire
brush fire
brush-fire
brushfire
build a fire under
bump-fire
bump fire
bumpfire
bush fire
bushfire
Byzantine fire
call the fire department
campfire
camp fire
catch fire
catch on fire
cease fire
ceasefire
cease-fire
centerfire
central fire
chimney fire
chimpanzee fire
Chinese fire drill
climate fire
co-fire
cold fire
contagious fire
cookfire
counterfire
covering fire
crossfire
crown fire
death-fire
Devil's Broom fire
die in a fire
direct fire
dragonfire
draw fire
dropping fire
drumfire
dry-fire
dry fire
dumpster fire
electric fire
Elmo's fire
enfire
escape fire
exchange of fire
fairy fire
false fire
fan the fire
feed the fire
fen fire
field of fire
fiery
fight fire with fire
firable
fireable
fire air
fire alarm
fire alarm horn
fire and brimstone
fire and forget
fire ant
fire appliance
firearm
fire arm
fire arrow
fire away
fire ax
fire axe
fireback
fireball
fire balloon
firebar
fire barn
firebase
fire basket
firebath
fire-bath
firebathe
fire bay
fire beater
fire beetle
fire bell
firebell
fire-bellied
fire-bellied newt
fire-bellied toad
fire bellied toad
firebelly
fire bike
firebird
fire blanket
fire blanks
fireblast
fire blast
fire blight
fire blindness
fire block
fireboard
fire-board
fire board
fireboat
firebolt
firebomb
fire boss
firebote
fire-bote
fire box
firebox
fireboy
firebrand
firebrass
firebrat
firebreak
fire break
fire-breather
firebreather
fire breathing
fire-breathing
firebreathing
firebrick
fire brick
fire brigade
fire-bucket
fire bucket
firebug
fire button
fire cabinet
firecall
fire camp
firecan
fire-capped tit
fire cart
fire chicken
fire chief
fire cider
fire clay
fireclay
fire cloud
firecock
fire code
fire company
fire controlman
fire coral
firecracker
firecraft
firecrest
fire crotch
fire-crotch
firecrown
fire cupping
firedamp
fire damper
firedamper
fire dancer
fire department
fire devil
fire-devil
firedevil
fire diamond
fire dog
fire dogs
firedoor
fire door
firedragon
firedrake
fire drill
firee
fire-eater
fireeater
fire eater
fire eating
fire eel
fire engine
fire engine red
fire escape
fire-escape knot
fire exit
fire extinguisher
fire-eye
fire-eyed diucon
firefall
fire fan
firefan
fire-fang
fire-fanged
fire fighter
firefighter
firefight
fire-fight
fire fighting
firefighting
firefinch
fire finder
firefish
fire flapper
firefloat
firefly
fire-fly
fireform
fire fountain
Firefox
firefront
fire-fronted bishop
fire gilding
fire-gilding
fire gilt
fire-gown
firegrate
fire-grate
fire grate
fire grenade
fireground
fireguard
fire guard
firehall
fire hall
fire hawk
fire hazard
firehole
firehook
fire hose
firehot
fire house
firehouse
fire hydrant
fire ice
fire in one's belly
fire inspection
fire inspector
fire insurance
fire in the belly
fire in the hole
fire iron
fire is a good servant but a bad master
firekeeper
fire lance
fireland
Fireland
fire lane
fireless
firelet
firelight
firelighter
firelighting
firelike
fire lily
fireline
firelit
fire load
firelock
firelog
fire lookout tower
fire machine
fire main
firemaker
firemaking
fireman
fire marble
fire mark
fire marshal
fire marshall
firemaster
fire mission
fire moss
fire mountain
firenado
fireness
fire-new
fire obsidian
fire officer
fire on all cylinders
fire-on-the-mountain
fire opal
fire out
firepan
fire pan
fire people
fireperson
fire philosopher
fire pike
firepink
fire piston
firepit
fire pit
fire-place
fireplace
fire plant
fireplay
fire-plough
fireplug
fire point
fire pole
firepole
fire police
firepot
fire-power
firepower
fire practice
fireproof
fire-proof
firer
fire raft
fire rainbow
fireraiser
fire-raiser
fireraising
fire-raising
fire rake
fire regime
fire-resistant
fire retardant
fire-retardant
fire-retarded
fire ring
fireroad
fire roll
fireroom
firesafe
fire safety
fire salamander
fire-sale
fire sale
firesand
fire saw
fire scar
fire science
firescorched
firescreen
fire screen
fire service
fireset
firesetter
firesetting
fireshine
fire ship
fireship
fire shirt
fire shovel hat
fireside
fire-side
fire sign
fire site
firesmoke
firesome
fire spear
fire sprinkler
fire stairs
fire starter
fire-starter
firestarter
fire station
firesteel
fire step
firestick
fire-stick
fire-stick farming
firestink
firestone
fire-stop
firestop
fire stop
firestorm
fire-storm
fire storm
firestriker
fire striker
firesuit
fire swab
fire swatter
fire system
fire table
firetail
fireteam
fire teaser
fire temple
firetender
firetending
fire tetrahedron
firethorn
firethroat
fire tongs
Firetop
fire tower
fire tower stairway
fire train
firetrap
fire trench
fire triangle
fire truck
firetruck
firetube
firewagon
firewalk
fire walker
firewall
fireward
firewarden
fire watch
firewatcher
firewater
fireweed
firewheel
fire whirl
fire-whirl
firewhirl
firewire
firewise
firewoman
firewood
firework
fireworker
fireworks
fireworm
fire-worship
fire worship
fire-worshipper
fireworthy
firey
firie
firy
fiya
flashfire
forest fire
foxfire
fox fire
fox-fire
free-fire
fresh fucked fox in a forest fire
friendly fire
frontfire
garbage fire
gas fire
get on like a house on fire
gigafire
go through fire and water
grass fire
grassfire
grazing fire
great balls of fire
Grecian fire
Greek fire
green fire
groundfire
gunfire
hair-on-fire
headfire
heap coals of fire on someone's head
heap coals on fire
hellfire
hell's fire anemone
hill fire
hold fire
hold one's fire
holdover fire
hold someone's feet to the fire
holy fire
hot as fire
housefire
Indian fire
indirect fire
insurance fire
irons in the fire
I wouldn't piss on someone if they were on fire
Kentish fire
kill it with fire
kindle-coal
kindle-fire
lake of fire
last burst of fire
liar liar pants on fire
light a fire under
light one's hair on fire
light someone's fire
line of fire
Lob-lie-by-the-fire
Lob Lie-by-the-fire
megafire
misfire
miss fire
need-fire
nightfire
nonfire
no smoke without fire
oblique fire
on fire
open fire
ordeal of fire
outfire
out of the frying pan and into the fire
overwintering fire
palaeofire
paleofire
pants on fire
philosopher by fire
philosopher of fire
pillar of fire
pinfire
play with fire
Polish fire drill
postfire
pour fuel on the fire
pour gasoline on the fire
prefire
pre-fire
primary fire
project fire
Promethean fire
pull from the fire
pull out of the fire
pull someone's bacon out of the fire
pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire
pull someone's fat out of the fire
pull the fat out of the fire
pull the fire alarm
put out a fire
put out the fire
quick-fire
rain fire and brimstone
rapid fire pistol
rapid-fire
rapid fire
real fire
red fire
red imported fire ant
rediscover fire
refire
retrofire
return fire
rimfire
run around with one's hair on fire
running fire
Saint Anthony's fire
Saint Elmo's fire
scarefire
scathefire
sea-fire
secondary fire
selective fire
set fire
set fire by
set fire in
set fire into
set fire of
set fire on
set fire to
set fire unto
set fire upon
set one's hair on fire
set on fire
set the heather on fire
set the Thames on fire
set the world on fire
shellfire
shitfire
shit fire
shit fire and save matches
shout fire in a crowded theater
shouting fire in a crowded theater
signal fire
sit-by-the-fire
spellfire
spit-fire
spitfire
spit fire
spot fire
stand fire
St Anthony's fire
St. Anthony's fire
static-fire
static fire
St. Elmo's fire
St Elmo's fire
strikefire
St. Ulmo's fire
sure-fire
take fire
testfire
test-fire
the burnt child dreads the fire
the burnt child fears the fire
the fat hit the fire
the fat is in the fire
there may be snow on the mountaintop but there's fire in the valley
there may be snow on the rooftop but there is fire in the furnace
there's no smoke without fire
throw gasoline on the fire
throw gas on the fire
thunder fire
tire-fire
tire fire
trash fire
trashfire
trial by fire
Trumpster fire
twitch fire
under fire
unfire
upside-down fire
veldfire
walking fire
watchfire
water fire
where's the fire
wildfire
will-fire
witch's fire
woodfire
you don't look at the mantelpiece when you poke the fire
you don't look at the mantelpiece when you're poking the fire
zombie fire
zone of fire