fire raising

[Eng. fire, and raising.] The act of setting on fire; incendiarism, arson. fire-ship, s. [Eng. fire, and ship.] 1. Lit .: A ve el freighted with combustibles and explosives, and turned adrift so as to float among the ve els of the enemy, against a bridge or other object which may be burned by the fire or destroyed by the resulting explosion. In the last century they formed a regular portion of civilized navies. As a distinct cla of ve els, they are now disc on tinued. "He found them hauled up into shoal water where no large man-of-war could get at them. He therefore determined to attack them with his fireships and boats."Macaulay: Hist. Eng . , ch. xviii. *2. Fig .: A prostitute.