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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fire       (fīr)  Pronunciation Key  n.   A rapid, persistent chemical change that releases heat and light and is accompanied by flame, especially the exothermic oxidation of a combustible substance. Burning fuel or other material: a cooking fire; a forest fire. Burning intensity of feeling; ardor. See Synonyms at passion. Enthusiasm. The discharge of firearms or artillery: heard the fire of cannon. The launching of a missile, rocket, or similar ballistic body. Discharged bullets or other projectiles: subjected enemy positions to heavy mortar fire; struck by rifle fire. Burning intensity of feeling; ardor. See Synonyms at passion. Enthusiasm. The discharge of firearms or artillery: heard the fire of cannon. The launching of a missile, rocket, or similar ballistic body. Discharged bullets or other projectiles: subjected enemy positions to heavy mortar fire; struck by rifle fire. Luminosity or brilliance, as of a cut and polished gemstone. Liveliness and vivacity of imagination; brilliance. A severe test; a trial or torment. A fever or bodily inflammation. The discharge of firearms or artillery: heard the fire of cannon. The launching of a missile, rocket, or similar ballistic body. Discharged bullets or other projectiles: subjected enemy positions to heavy mortar fire; struck by rifle fire. Intense, repeated attack or criticism: answered the fire from her political critics. v.   fired, fir·ing, fires v.   tr. To cause to burn; ignite. To light (something) up as if by fire: The morning sun fired the tops of the trees. To add fuel to (something burning). To maintain or fuel a fire in. To start (a fuel-burning engine). Often used with up. To bake in a kiln: fire pottery. To dry by heating. To discharge (a firearm, for example). To detonate (an explosive). To propel (a projectile); launch (a missile). Informal To throw with force and speed; hurl: fire a ball at a batter. To utter or direct with insistence: fired questions at the senator. To add fuel to (something burning). To maintain or fuel a fire in. To start (a fuel-burning engine). Often used with up. To bake in a kiln: fire pottery. To dry by heating. To discharge (a firearm, for example). To detonate (an explosive). To propel (a projectile); launch (a missile). Informal To throw with force and speed; hurl: fire a ball at a batter. To utter or direct with insistence: fired questions at the senator. To bake in a kiln: fire pottery. To dry by heating. To discharge (a firearm, for example). To detonate (an explosive). To propel (a projectile); launch (a missile). Informal To throw with force and speed; hurl: fire a ball at a batter. To utter or direct with insistence: fired questions at the senator. To arouse the emotions of; make enthusiastic or ardent. Often used with up: warriors who were fired by patriotism. To discharge (a firearm, for example). To detonate (an explosive). To propel (a projectile); launch (a missile). Informal To throw with force and speed; hurl: fire a ball at a batter. To utter or direct with insistence: fired questions at the senator. To propel (a projectile); launch (a missile). Informal To throw with force and speed; hurl: fire a ball at a batter. To utter or direct with insistence: fired questions at the senator. Games To score (a number) in a game or contest. To discharge from a position; dismiss. See Synonyms at dismiss. v.   intr. To become ignited; flame up. To become excited or ardent. To become angry or annoyed. To shoot a weapon: aimed and fired at the target. To detonate an explosive. To ignite fuel, as in an engine. To tend a fire. To shoot a weapon: aimed and fired at the target. To detonate an explosive. To ignite fuel, as in an engine. Informal To project or hurl a missile: The pitcher wound up and fired. Physiology To generate an electrical impulse. Used of a neuron. To become yellowed or brown before reaching maturity, as grain. To utter or ask rapidly. To write and send (a letter, for example) in haste. Phrasal Verb(s): fire away Informal To start to talk or ask questions. fire off To utter or ask rapidly. To write and send (a letter, for example) in haste. Idiom(s): between two fires Being attacked from two sources or sides simultaneously. Idiom(s): on fire Ignited; ablaze. Filled with enthusiasm or excitement. Idiom(s): start/light/build a fire under Slang To urge or goad to action. Idiom(s): under fire Exposed or subjected to enemy attack. Exposed or subjected to critical attack or censure: an official who was under fire for mismanagement. [Middle English fir, from Old English fȳr; see paəw in Indo-European roots.] fire'a·ble adj., fir'er n. Word History: Primitive Indo-European had pairs of words for some very common things, such as water or fire. Typically, one word in the pair was active, animate, and personified; the other, impersonal and neuter in grammatical gender. In the case of the pair of words for "fire," English has descendants of both, one inherited directly from Germanic, the other borrowed from Latin. Our word fire goes back to the neuter member of the pair. In Old English "fire" was fȳr, from Germanic *fūr. The Indo-European form behind *fūr is *pūr, whence also the Greek neuter noun pūr, the source of the prefix pyro-. The other Indo-European word for fire appears in ignite, which is derived from the Latin word for fire, ignis, from Indo-European *egnis. The Russian word for fire, ogon' (stem form ogn-), and the Sanskrit agni-, "fire" (deified as Agni, the god of fire), also come from *egnis, the active, animate, and personified word for fire.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
fire  (n.)

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

fire
noun
1.	the event of something burning (often destructive); "they lost everything in the fire"
2.	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"
3.	the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke; "fire was one of our ancestors' first discoveries"
4.	a fireplace in which a relatively small fire is burning; "they sat by the fire and talked"
5.	once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)
6.	feelings of great warmth and intensity; "he spoke with great ardor" [syn: ardor]
7.	fuel that is burning and is used as a means for cooking; "put the kettle on the fire"; "barbecue over an open fire"
8.	a severe trial; "he went through fire and damnation"
9.	intense adverse criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack"; "don't give me any flak"
verb
1.	start firing a weapon [syn: open fire]
2.	cause to go off; "fire a gun"; "fire a bullet"
3.	bake in a kiln so as to harden; "fire pottery"
4.	terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers" [ant: employ]
5.	go off or discharge; "The gun fired"
6.	drive out or away by or as if by fire; "The soldiers were fired"; "Surrender fires the cold skepticism"
7.	call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" [syn: arouse]
8.	destroy by fire; "They burned the house and his diaries" [syn: burn]
9.	provide with fuel; "Oil fires the furnace" [syn: fuel]

American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This

fire

In addition to the idioms beginning with fire, also see add fuel to the fire; ball of fire; baptism of fire; catch fire; caught in the cross-fire; draw fire; fat is in the fire; fight fire with fire; get on (like a house afire); hang fire; hold one's fire; hold someone's feet to the fire; irons in the fire; light a fire under; line of fire; miss fire; no smoke without fire; on fire; open fire; out of the frying pan into the fire; play with fire; set on fire; set the world on fire; spread like wildfire; trial by fire; under fire; where's the fire. Also see under firing.

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fire (fīr)
v. fired, fir·ing, fires
To generate an electrical impulse. Used of a neuron.

U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Angel Fire, NM (village, FIPS 3400) Location: 36.39061 N, 105.27866 W
Population (1990): 93 (616 housing units)
Area: 0.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fire

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 .(b) A balloon sent up at night with fireworks which ignite at a regulated height. --Simmonds.

Fire bar, a grate bar.

Fire basket, a portable grate; a cresset. --Knight.

Fire beetle. (Zo["o]l.) See in the Vocabulary.

Fire blast, a disease of plants which causes them to appear as if burnt by fire.

Fire box, the chamber of a furnace, steam boiler, etc., for the fire.

Fire brick, a refractory brick, capable of sustaining intense heat without fusion, usually made of fire clay or of siliceous material, with some cementing substance, and used for lining fire boxes, etc.

Fire brigade, an organized body of men for extinguished fires.

Fire bucket. See under Bucket.

Fire bug, an incendiary; one who, from malice or through mania, persistently sets fire to property; a pyromaniac. [U.S.]

Fire clay. See under Clay.

Fire company, a company of men managing an engine in extinguishing fires.

Fire cross. See Fiery cross. [Obs.] --Milton.

Fire damp. See under Damp.

Fire dog. See Firedog, in the Vocabulary.

Fire drill. (a) A series of evolutions performed by fireman for practice. (b) An apparatus for producing fire by friction, by rapidly twirling a wooden pin in a wooden socket; -- used by the Hindoos during all historic time, and by many savage peoples.

Fire eater. (a) A juggler who pretends to eat fire. (b) A quarrelsome person who seeks affrays; a hotspur. [Colloq.]

Fire engine, a portable forcing pump, usually on wheels, for throwing water to extinguish fire.

Fire escape, a contrivance for facilitating escape from burning buildings.

Fire gilding (Fine Arts), a mode of gilding with an amalgam of gold and quicksilver, the latter metal being driven off afterward by heat.

Fire gilt (Fine Arts), gold laid on by the process of fire gilding.

Fire insurance, the act or system of insuring against fire; also, a contract by which an insurance company undertakes, in consideration of the payment of a premium or small percentage -- usually made periodically -- to indemnify an owner of property from loss by fire during a specified period.

Fire irons, utensils for a fireplace or grate, as tongs, poker, and shovel.

Fire main, a pipe for water, to be used in putting out fire.

Fire master (Mil), an artillery officer who formerly supervised the composition of fireworks.

Fire office, an office at which to effect insurance against fire.

Fire opal, a variety of opal giving firelike reflections.

Fire ordeal, an ancient mode of trial, in which the test was the ability of the accused to handle or tread upon red-hot irons. --Abbot.

Fire pan, a pan for holding or conveying fire, especially the receptacle for the priming of a gun.

Fire plug, a plug or hydrant for drawing water from the main pipes in a street, building, etc., for extinguishing fires.

Fire policy, the writing or instrument expressing the contract of insurance against loss by fire.

Fire pot. (a) (Mil.) A small earthen pot filled with combustibles, formerly used as a missile in war. (b) The cast iron vessel which holds the fuel or fire in a furnace. (c) A crucible. (d) A solderer's furnace.

Fire raft, a raft laden with combustibles, used for setting fire to an enemy's ships.

Fire roll, a peculiar beat of the drum to summon men to their quarters in case of fire.

Fire setting (Mining), the process of softening or cracking the working face of a lode, to facilitate excavation, by exposing it to the action of fire; -- now generally superseded by the use of explosives. --Raymond.

Fire ship, a vessel filled with combustibles, for setting fire to an enemy's ships.

Fire shovel, a shovel for taking up coals of fire.

Fire stink, the stench from decomposing iron pyrites, caused by the formation of sulphureted hydrogen. --Raymond.

Fire surface, the surfaces of a steam boiler which are exposed to the direct heat of the fuel and the products of combustion; heating surface.

Fire swab, a swab saturated with water, for cooling a gun in action and clearing away particles of powder, etc. --Farrow.

Fire teaser, in England, the fireman of a steam emgine.

Fire water, ardent spirits; -- so called by the American Indians.

Fire worship, the worship of fire, which prevails chiefly in Persia, among the followers of Zoroaster, called Chebers, or Guebers, and among the Parsees of India.

Greek fire. See under Greek.

On fire, burning; hence, ardent; passionate; eager; zealous.

Running fire, the rapid discharge of firearms in succession by a line of troops.

St. Anthony's fire, erysipelas; -- an eruptive fever which St. Anthony was supposed to cure miraculously. --Hoblyn.

St. Elmo's fire. See under Saint Elmo.

To set on fire, to inflame; to kindle.

To take fire, to begin to burn; to fly into a passion.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fire

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.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fire

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.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Fire

(1.) For sacred purposes. The sacrifices were consumed by fire (Gen. 8:20). The ever-burning fire on the altar was first kindled from heaven (Lev. 6:9, 13; 9:24), and afterwards rekindled at the dedication of Solomon's temple (2 Chr. 7:1, 3). The expressions "fire from heaven" and "fire of the Lord" generally denote lightning, but sometimes also the fire of the altar was so called (Ex. 29:18; Lev. 1:9; 2:3; 3:5, 9). Fire for a sacred purpose obtained otherwise than from the altar was called "strange fire" (Lev. 10:1, 2; Num. 3:4). The victims slain for sin offerings were afterwards consumed by fire outside the camp (Lev. 4:12, 21; 6:30; 16:27; Heb. 13:11). (2.) For domestic purposes, such as baking, cooking, warmth, etc. (Jer. 36:22; Mark 14:54; John 18:18). But on Sabbath no fire for any domestic purpose was to be kindled (Ex. 35:3; Num. 15:32-36). (3.) Punishment of death by fire was inflicted on such as were guilty of certain forms of unchastity and incest (Lev. 20:14; 21:9). The burning of captives in war was not unknown among the Jews (2 Sam. 12:31; Jer. 29:22). The bodies of infamous persons who were executed were also sometimes burned (Josh. 7:25; 2 Kings 23:16). (4.) In war, fire was used in the destruction of cities, as Jericho (Josh. 6:24), Ai (8:19), Hazor (11:11), Laish (Judg. 18:27), etc. The war-chariots of the Canaanites were burnt (Josh. 11:6, 9, 13). The Israelites burned the images (2 Kings 10:26; R.V., "pillars") of the house of Baal. These objects of worship seem to have been of the nature of obelisks, and were sometimes evidently made of wood. Torches were sometimes carried by the soldiers in battle (Judg. 7:16). (5.) Figuratively, fire is a symbol of Jehovah's presence and the instrument of his power (Ex. 14:19; Num. 11:1, 3; Judg. 13:20; 1 Kings 18:38; 2 Kings 1:10, 12; 2:11; Isa. 6:4; Ezek. 1:4; Rev. 1:14, etc.). God's word is also likened unto fire (Jer. 23:29). It is referred to as an emblem of severe trials or misfortunes (Zech. 12:6; Luke 12:49; 1 Cor. 3:13, 15; 1 Pet. 1:7), and of eternal punishment (Matt. 5:22; Mark 9:44; Rev. 14:10; 21:8). The influence of the Holy Ghost is likened unto fire (Matt. 3:11). His descent was denoted by the appearance of tongues as of fire (Acts 2:3).