fire

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪ.ə(ɹ)/, /ˈfaɪə(ɹ)/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈfɑe.ə(ɹ)/
• (US) enPR: fīʹər, fīr, IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪəɹ/, [ˈfaɪɚ]
  • (Southern American English, Appalachia) IPA^(key): [ˈfäːɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

From Middle English fier, from Old English fȳr (“fire”), 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.

fire (countable and uncountable, plural fires)

1. (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.
2. (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).

   We sat about the fire singing songs and telling tales.

   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     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.

3. (countable) The occurrence, often accidental, of fire in a certain place, causing damage and danger.

   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.

4. (uncountable, alchemy, philosophy) The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
5. (countable, Britain) A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire).
6. (countable) The elements necessary to start a fire.

   The fire was laid and needed to be lit.

7. (uncountable) The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun.

   The fire from the enemy guns kept us from attacking.

8. Strength of passion, whether love or hate.
   • Atterbury

     He had fire in his temper.

9. Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral enthusiasm.
   • Alexander Pope

     And bless their critic with a poet's fire.

10. Splendour; brilliancy; lustre; hence, a star.
    • William Shakespeare

      Stars, hide your fires.

    • John Milton

      As in a zodiac representing the heavenly fires.

11. A severe trial; anything inflaming or provoking.

• blaze
• conflagration
• inferno

• Sranan Tongo: faya

See fire/translations § Noun.

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”).

fire (third-person singular simple present fires, present participle firing, simple past and past participle fired)

1. (transitive) To set (something, often a building) on fire.
   • 1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “At the House in Great Portland Street”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, OCLC 904345282, page 186:

     ["]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.["]

   • 1907, Jack London, The Iron Heel

     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.

2. (transitive) To heat as with fire, but without setting on fire, as ceramic, metal objects, etc.

   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.

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803:

     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.

3. (transitive) To drive away by setting a fire.
   • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)

     Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

4. (transitive) To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct or poor performance).

   Antonym: hire

   • 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin 2011, p.226:

     The first, obvious choice was hysterical and fantastic Blanche – had there not been her timidity, her fear of being ‘fired’ […].

5. (transitive) To shoot (a gun or analogous device).

   We will fire our guns at the enemy.

   He fired his radar gun at passing cars.

6. (intransitive) To shoot a gun, cannon, or similar weapon.

   Synonyms: open fire, shoot

   Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes.

7. (transitive, sports) To shoot; to attempt to score a goal.
   • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:

     Andrey Arshavin equalised with a superb volley into the corner before Nicklas Bendtner coolly fired Arsenal in front.

8. (intransitive, physiology) To cause an action potential in a cell.

   When a neuron fires, it transmits information.

9. (transitive) To forcibly direct (something).

   He answered the questions the reporters fired at him.

10. (transitive, intransitive, computer sciences, software engineering) To initiate an event (by means of an event handler).

    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.

11. To inflame; to irritate, as the passions.

    to fire the soul with anger, pride, or revenge

    • (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden

      Love had fired my mind.

12. To animate; to give life or spirit to.

    to fire the genius of a young man

13. To feed or serve the fire of.

    to fire a boiler

14. To light up as if by fire; to illuminate.
    • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)

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

15. (farriery) To cauterize.
16. (intransitive, dated) To catch fire; to be kindled.
17. (intransitive, dated) To be irritated or inflamed with passion.

• (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.

You can help Wiktionary by providing a proper etymology.

fire (not comparable)

1. (slang) Amazing; excellent.

   That shit is fire, yo!

• fire on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Fire in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

• -fier, Fier, Frie, fier, refi, reif, rief, rife

fire

1. third-person singular present indicative of firir

fire

1. shrinkage, loss
2. scrap

From Old Norse fjórir, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”).

• IPA^(key): /fiːrə/, [ˈfiːɐ]

fire

1. four

In compounds: fir-.

From Middle Low German fīren, from French virer (“bear, veer”).

• IPA^(key): /fiːrə/, [ˈfiːɐ]

fire (imperative fir, infinitive at fire, present tense firer, past tense firede, perfect tense har firet)

1. to lower something fixed to a rope or something similar
   • 1871, Jens Andreas Friis, Lappisk Mythologi, page 138

     Saa gik han hen og firede Stenen og Vidietouget ned i Hullet.

     Then he went [to the hole] and lowered the rock and the wicker rope down into the hole.

   • 2014, Teddy Vork, Diget, Tellerup A/S →ISBN

     Han satte sig på knæ, famlede sig frem til tovet og vendte sig rundt så han havde ryggen til hullet, drejede overkroppen bagud, firede faklen ned i hullet.

     He kneeled, fumbled his way to the rope and turned around, such that his back was to the hole, twisted his torso backwards, lowered the torch into the hole.

From Latin fierī (“to become, be”), present active infinitive of fiō. Compare Romanian fi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfire/, [ˈfiː.r̺e]
• Hyphenation: fì‧re

fire

1. (northern Italy, obsolete) to be

• The only forms attested outside of ancient Northern Italian literature are the future fia (third-person singular) and fiano (third-person plural).

From Danish fire, Old Norse fjórir, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfiːɾə/

fire

1. four

• fjerde (ordinal)

From French virer, via Middle Low German firen

fire (imperative fir, present tense firer, passive fires, simple past fira or firet or firte, past participle fira or firet or firt, present participle firende)

1. to slacken, ease
2. to lower (a flag)

• “fire” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Old Norse fjórir, via Danish fire.

fire

1. four

• fjerde (ordinal)

From French virer, via Middle Low German firen.

fire

1. to slacken, ease
2. to lower (a flag)

• “fire” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

fire n

1. plural of fir

From fi +‎ -re.

fire f (plural firi)

1. essence, substance, nature

   Synonym: natură

2. character, temper, disposition

   Synonyms: caracter, temperament

3. mind

   Synonym: minte

fire (definite accusative fireyi, plural fireler)

1. wastage
2. outage
3. shrinkage, loss, loss in weight, decrease
4. turnover
5. ullage
6. leakage
7. waste, tret, deficiency