Etimology
From Middle English fyr, from Old English fȳr (“fire”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuir, from *fuïr, a regularised form of Proto-Germanic *fōr (“fire”) (compare Saterland Frisian Fjuur, West Frisian fjoer, Dutch vuur, Low German Füer, German Feuer, Danish fyr), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *péh₂wr̥. Compare Hittite 𒉺𒄴𒄯 (paḫḫur), Umbrian pir, Tocharian A/B por/puwar, Czech pýř (“hot ashes”), 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.
noun
fire (countable and uncountable, plural fires)
(uncountable) 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.
(countable) 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).
(countable) The occurrence, often accidental, of fire in a certain place, causing damage and danger.
(uncountable, alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
(countable, British) A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire).
(countable) The elements necessary to start a fire.
(uncountable) The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun or other ranged weapon.
(countable) A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such.
(countable, African-American Vernacular, slang) A firearm.
(countable, figurative) A barrage, volley
(astronautics) An instance of firing one or more rocket engines.
Strength of passion, whether love or hate.
Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm.
Splendour; brilliancy; lustre; hence, a star.
A severe trial; anything inflaming or provoking.
Red coloration in a piece of opal.
Examples
We sat about the fire singing songs and telling tales.
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.
There was a fire at the school last night and the whole place burned down.
During hot and dry summers many fires in forests are caused by regardlessly discarded cigarette butts.
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.
The fire was laid and needed to be lit.
The fire from the enemy guns kept us from attacking.
We dominated the battlespace with our fires.
I used to work at Five Below but now I keep that fire below
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.
static fire
He had fire in his temper.
You call it hope—that fire of fire!It is but agony of desire: […]
And bless their critic with a poet's fire.
Stars, hide your fires.
As in a zodiac representing the heavenly fires.
Related words
synonyms
blaze
conflagration
inferno
adjective
fire (not comparable) (predicative only)
(slang) Amazing; excellent.
Examples
This is fire, keep up the amazing work!
Etimology
From Middle English firen, fyren, furen, from Old English fȳrian (“to make a fire”), from the noun (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian fioria (“to light a fire”), Saterland Frisian fjuurje (“to fire”), Middle Dutch vûren, vueren, vieren (“to set fire”), Dutch vuren (“to fire, shoot”), Old High German fiuren (“to ignite, set on fire”), German feuern (“to fire”).
verb
fire (third-person singular simple present fires, present participle firing, simple past and past participle fired)
(transitive) To set (something, often a building) on fire.
(transitive) To heat as with fire, but without setting on fire, as ceramic, metal objects, etc.
(transitive) To drive away by setting a fire.
(transitive) To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct or poor performance).
(transitive, by extension) To terminate a contract with a client; to drop a client.
(transitive) To shoot (a gun, rocket/missile, or analogous device).
(intransitive) To shoot a gun, cannon, or similar weapon.
(astronautics) To operate a rocket engine to produce thrust.
(transitive, mining) To set off an explosive in a mine.
(transitive, sports) To shoot; to attempt to score a goal.
(intransitive, physiology) To cause an action potential in a cell.
(transitive) To forcibly direct (something).
(transitive, intransitive, computer sciences, software engineering) To initiate an event (by means of an event handler).
(transitive) To inflame; to irritate, as the passions.
(intransitive, dated) To be irritated or inflamed with passion.
To animate; to give life or spirit to.
To feed or serve the fire of.
(transitive) To light up as if by fire; to illuminate.
(transitive, farriery) To cauterize.
(intransitive, dated) To catch fire; to be kindled.
Examples
["]Then I slipped up again with a box of matches, fired my heap of paper and rubbish, put the chairs and bedding thereby, led the gas to the affair, by means of an india-rubber tube, and waving a farewell to the room left it for the last time." / "You fired the house!" exclaimed Kemp. / "Fired the house. It was the only way to cover my trail – and no doubt it was insured.["]
That lamp was the mummy of a woman tied to a stout stake let into the rock, and he had fired her hair.
It was long a question of debate, whether the burning of the South Side ghetto was accidental, or whether it was done by the Mercenaries; but it is definitely settled now that the ghetto was fired by the Mercenaries under orders from their chiefs.
If you fire the pottery at too high a temperature, it may crack.
They fire the wood to make it easier to put a point on the end.
So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills, […] a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.
Antonym: hire
The first, obvious choice was hysterical and fantastic Blanche – had there not been her timidity, her fear of being ‘fired’ […].
Don't be hesitant to fire a client - cull out the deadwood. If a client doesn't meet the above criteria, you are better off without him. You don't do your best work for a client you'd rather not have.
Maintaining a collegial attitude even when doing the more difficult business work, like firing a client, is another part. If you are struggling through the relationship, the client might be struggling as well, so firing them may be mutually beneficial, and you should try and do it on the best of terms.
We will fire our guns at the enemy.
The jet fired a salvo of rockets at the truck convoy.
He fired his radar gun at passing cars.
Synonyms: open fire, shoot
Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.
I heard that both yesterday and today, when transports of the central government carrying our soldiers arrived at Hu-lu-tao, bandit troops on the shore fired at them.
The RCS thrusters fired several times to stabilize the tumbling spacecraft.
`Now are you both ready?' I said, as people do when they are going to fire a mine.
Andrey Arshavin equalised with a superb volley into the corner before Nicklas Bendtner coolly fired Arsenal in front.
When a neuron fires, it transmits information.
He answered the questions the reporters fired at him.
The event handler should only fire after all web page content has finished loading.
The queue fires a job whenever the thread pool is ready to handle it.
to fire the soul with anger, pride, or revenge
Inexperienced girl as I was, I fired at the idea of becoming his dupe, and fancying, perhaps, that there was more in merely answering his note than it would have amounted to, I said — "That kind of thing may answer very well with button-makers, but ladies don't like it. […]
Love had fired my mind.
to fire the genius of a young man
to fire a boiler
We left with the "Blue Train", dead on time. This time I fired all the way. […] The next day took me home again on No. E.16 with Henri Dutertre. I fired from Paris to Calais.
[The sun] fires the proud tops of the eastern pines.
Related words
synonyms
(set on fire): See set on fire
(transitive, shoot): let off, loose (archery), shoot
(terminate the employment of): dehire, dismiss, give one's cards, give the boot, give the elbow, give the old heave-ho, let go, make redundant, sack, terminate, throw out, unhire; See also Thesaurus:lay off.
interjection
fire
command to shoot with firearms