Definitions for: Fire


[n] 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"
[n] a fireplace in which a fire is burning; "they sat by the fire and talked"
[n] intense adverse criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack"; "don't give me any flak"
[n] the event of something burning (often destructive); "they lost everything in the fire"
[n] a severe trial; "he went through fire and damnation"
[n] feelings of great warmth and intensity; "he spoke with great ardor"
[n] the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke; "fire was one of our ancestors' first discoveries"
[n] (archaic) once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)
[v] Bake in a kiln; "fire pottery"
[v] destroy by fire; "They burned the house and his diaries"
[v] cause to go off; "fire a gun"; "fire a bullet"
[v] go off or discharge; "The gun fired"
[v] start firing a weapon
[v] call forth; of emotions, feelings, and responses; "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy"
[v] terminate the employment of; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers"
[v] drive out or away by or as if by fire; "The soldiers were fired"; "Surrender fires the cold skepticism"
[v] provide with fuel; "Oil fires the furnace"



Webster (1913) Definition: Fire (f[imac]r), n. [OE. fir, fyr, fur AS. f[=y]r; akin
to D. vuur, OS. & OHG. fiur, G. feuer, Icel. f[=y]ri,
f[=u]rr, Gr. py^r, and perh. to L. purus pure, E. pure Cf.
Empyrean, Pyre.]
1. The evolution of light and heat in the combustion of
bodies; combustion; state of ignition.

Note: The form of fire exhibited in the combustion of gases
in an ascending stream or current is called flame.
Anciently, fire, air, earth, and water were regarded as
the four elements of which all things are composed.

2. Fuel in a state of combustion, as on a hearth, or in a
stove or a furnace.

3. The burning of a house or town; a conflagration.

4. Anything which destroys or affects like fire.

5. Ardor of passion, whether love or hate; excessive warmth;
consuming violence of temper.

he had fire in his temper. --Atterbury.

6. Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral
enthusiasm; capacity for ardor and zeal.

And bless their critic with a poet's fire. --Pope.

7. Splendor; brilliancy; luster; hence, a star.

Stars, hide your fires. --Shak.

As in a zodiac representing the heavenly fires.
--Milton.

8. Torture by burning; severe trial or affliction.

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

Blue fire, Red fire, Green fire (Pyrotech.),
compositions of various combustible substances, as
sulphur, niter, lampblack, etc., the flames of which are
colored by various metallic salts, as those of antimony,
strontium, barium, etc.

Fire alarm
(a) A signal given on the breaking out of a fire.
(b) An apparatus for giving such an alarm.

Fire annihilator, a machine, device, or preparation to be
kept at hand for extinguishing fire by smothering it with
some incombustible vapor or gas, as carbonic acid.

Fire balloon.
(a) A balloon raised in the air by the buoyancy of air
heated by a fire placed in the lower part


Fire, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fired; p. pr. & vb. n.
Fring.]
1. To set on fire; to kindle; as, to fire a house or chimney;
to fire a pile.

2. To subject to intense heat; to bake; to burn in a kiln;
as, to fire pottery.

3. To inflame; to irritate, as the passions; as, to fire the
soul with anger, pride, or revenge.

Love had fired my mind. --Dryden.

4. To animate; to give life or spirit to; as, to fire the
genius of a young man.

5. To feed or serve the fire of; as, to fire a boiler.

6. To light up as if by fire; to illuminate.

[The sun] fires the proud tops of the eastern pines.
--Shak.

7. To cause to explode; as, to fire a torpedo; to disharge;
as, to fire a musket or cannon; to fire cannon balls,
rockets, etc.

8. To drive by fire. [Obs.]

Till my bad angel fire my good one out. --Shak.

9. (Far.) To cauterize.

To fire up, to light up the fires of, as of an engine.


Fire, v. i.
1. To take fire; to be kindled; to kindle.

2. To be irritated or inflamed with passion.

3. To discharge artillery or firearms; as, they fired on the
town.

To fire up, to grow irritated or angry. ``He . . . fired
up, and stood vigorously on his defense.'' --Macaulay.

Synonyms: ardor, ardour, arouse, attack, blast, burn, burn down, can, discharge, dismiss, elicit, enkindle, evoke, fervency, fervidness, fervor, fervour, firing, flack, flak, flame, flaming, force out, fuel, give notice, give the axe, kindle, open fire, provoke, raise, sack, send away, terminate

Antonyms: employ, engage, hire

See Also: anger, antiaircraft fire, artillery fire, ask for, attack, backfire, bake, balefire, barrage, barrage fire, battery, blaze, blazing, bombardment, bonfire, broadside, bruise, brush fire, burning, burst, call fire, campfire, cannon fire, chase away, clean out, combustion, concentrated fire, conflagration, cookfire, counterfire, counterpreparation fire, cover, covering fire, create, cremate, criticism, crossfire, destroy, destruction fire, direct fire, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, dispel, distributed fire, draw, drive away, drive off, drive out, drop, element, excite, explode, fire, fire up, fireplace, flare, forest fire, furlough, furnish, fusillade, fusillade, go off, grassfire, grazing fire, happening, harassing fire, hearth, heat, hurt, ignite, indirect fire, infatuate, inferno, inflame, injure, interdiction fire, interest, invite, lay off, let drive, let fly, loose off, make, massed fire, natural event, neutralization fire, observed fire, occurrence, offend, onrush, onset, onslaught, open fireplace, overcome, overpower, overtake, overwhelm, passion, passionateness, pension off, pop, preparation fire, prick, provide, radar fire, registration fire, rekindle, remove, render, retire, ruin, run off, salvo, scheduled fire, scorch, searching fire, send packing, shake, shake up, shame, shelling, shoot, smoulder, smudge, spite, squeeze out, stimulate, stir, stir up, supply, supporting fire, suppressive fire, sweep over, torch, trial, tribulation, turn back, unfavorable judgment, unobserved fire, untune, upset, visitation, volley, wake, whelm, wound, zeal

Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder

Scrabble Cheat

Words With Friends Cheat

Hanging With Friends Cheat

Scramble With Friends Cheat

Ruzzle Cheat



Related Resources:
animlas that start with q
animals starting with w
animlas that start with k