Fire

fīr, n. the heat and light caused by burning: flame: anything burning, as fuel in a grate, .: a conflagration: torture or death by burning: severe trial: anything inflaming or provoking: ardour of pa ion: vigour: brightne of fancy: enthusiasm: sexual pa ion.— 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 pa ions of others; Fire′brick , a brick so made as to resist the action of fire, used for lining furnaces, .; 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 needle quarrelling, a profe ed 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 ( Cole ridge ), 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, .); 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 busine it is to a ist 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 ve el 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 ve els 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, ., 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 pa ion.— Set the Thames on fire , to do something striking; Take fire , to begin to burn: to become aroused about something. [A.S. fýr ; Ger. feuer ; Gr. pyr .]