fire

Adjective

1. Amazing; excellent.
   • This is fire, keep up the amazing work!

Interjection

1. Command to shoot with firearms.

Noun

1. 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. 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.
   • 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. - 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII,...
3. 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.
   • 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...
4. The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
5. A heater or stove used in place of a real fire (such as an electric fire).
6. The elements necessary to start a fire.
   • The fire was laid and needed to be lit.
7. The bullets or other projectiles fired from a gun or other ranged weapon.
   • The fire from the enemy guns kept us from attacking.
8. A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such.
   • We dominated the battlespace with our fires.
9. A firearm.
   • I used to work at Five Below but now I keep that fire below - 2023 June 23, “Special K” (track 7), in BLP Kosher (lyrics), Bars Mitzva, 2:01:
10. A barrage, volley
    • 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. - 1911, James George Frazer, The Golden...
11. An instance of firing one or more rocket engines.
    • static fire
12. Strength of passion, whether love or hate.
    • He had fire in his temper. - 1687, Francis Atterbury, An Answer to Some Considerations on the Spirit of Martin Luther and the Original of the Reformation; […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Sheldonian] Theater, →OCLC:
    • You call it hope—that fire of fire! It is but agony of desire: […] - 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:

Verb

1. To set (something, often a building) on fire.
   • ["]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...
   • That lamp was the mummy of a woman tied to a stout stake let into the rock, and he had fired her hair. - 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co.,...
   • 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...

   Synonyms: inflame kindle aflame alight conflagrate fire fire up ignite light light up set ablaze set afire set aflame set alight set fire set on fire torch

2. 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.
   • 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...
3. To drive away by setting a fire.
   • Till my bad angel fire my good one out. - 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 144”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
4. To terminate the employment contract of (an employee), especially for cause (such as misconduct, incompetence, or poor performance).
   • The first, obvious choice was hysterical and fantastic Blanche – had there not been her timidity, her fear of being ‘fired’[…]. - 1969, Vladimir Nabokov, Ada or Ardor, Penguin, published 2011, page 226:

   Synonyms: dehire dismiss give someone their cards give the boot give the elbow give someone the heave-ho let go make redundant sack terminate throw out unhire axe can decruit discard remove discharge downsize fire give the axe give someone the boot give the chop give someone the old heave-ho

   Antonyms: hire

5. To terminate a contract with a client; to drop a client.
   • 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. - 1979, Richard...
   • 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...
6. To shoot (a gun, rocket/missile, or analogous device).
   • 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: let off loose shoot

7. To shoot a gun, cannon, or similar weapon.
   • 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. - 1989, Dolores Zen, transl., Last Chance in...

   Synonyms: open fire shoot

8. To operate a rocket engine to produce thrust.
   • The RCS thrusters fired several times to stabilize the tumbling spacecraft.
9. To set off an explosive in a mine.
   • `Now are you both ready?' I said, as people do when they are going to fire a mine. - 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887,...
10. To shoot; to attempt to score a goal.
    • Andrey Arshavin equalised with a superb volley into the corner before Nicklas Bendtner coolly fired Arsenal in front. - 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2-2 Arsenal”, in BBC:
11. To cause an action potential in a cell.
    • When a neuron fires, it transmits information.
12. To forcibly direct (something).
    • He answered the questions the reporters fired at him.

    Synonyms: propel shoot throw

Wikipedia

Fire