fire

Noun (1)

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.
   • But to me it was not despicable; I said, "Oh, you fire, I love you, you dainty pink creature, for you are beautiful—and that is enough!" and was going to gather it to my breast.1906, Mark Twain, Eve's Diary
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.
   • 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, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC
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) The aforementioned chemical reaction of burning, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
5. (UK, countable) 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 or other ranged weapon.
   • The fire from the enemy guns kept us from attacking.
8. (countable) A planned bombardment by artillery or similar weapons, or the capability to deliver such.
   • We dominated the battlespace with our fires.
9. (countable, slang, African-American Vernacular) A firearm.
   • I used to work at Five Below but now I keep that fire below2023 June 23, “Special K” (track 7), in BLP Kosher (lyrics), Bars Mitzva, 2:01
10. (countable, figuratively) 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 Bough, volume 7, page 136
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

Adjective

fire (not comparable)

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

Verb

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.
   • ["]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...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, page 186
   • 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., published 1887, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   inflame, kindle, aflame, alight, conflagrate, fire up, ignite, enkindle, light, light up

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.
3. (transitive) 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. (transitive, employment) 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

   Antonyms:

   hire

5. (broadly, transitive) 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 Collins Rea, Operating a Successful Accounting Practice: A Collection of Material from the Journal of Accountancy Practitioners Forum, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 288
   • 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 them may be mutually beneficial, and you should try and do it on the best of...2020, Rebecca Migdal, Museum Mercenary: A Handbook for Independent Museum Professionals, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 278
6. (transitive) 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.

   Synonyms:

   let off, loose, shoot

7. (intransitive) 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 Manchuria, Hoover Institution Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 93

   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. (transitive) 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, →OCLC
10. (transitive) 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. (intransitive) To cause an action potential in a cell.
    • When a neuron fires, it transmits information.
12. (transitive) To forcibly direct (something).
    • He answered the questions the reporters fired at him.

    Synonyms:

    propel, shoot, throw

Interjection

1. Command to shoot with firearms.

Noun (2) capitalized: FIRE

FIRE (uncountable)

1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of financial independence and retire early.
2. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of finance, insurance and real estate, a class of businesses.
   • As Figure 2.1 demonstrates, total income acquired by the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector has been increasing since the early 1980s. While in the 1952–1980 period, the share of national income that went to the FIRE sector hovered between 12 and 14 percent, by the 2000s it had...2008, Özgür Orhangazi, Financialization and the US Economy, Edward Elgar Publishing, →ISBN, page 11

Proper noun capitalized: FIRE

FIRE

1. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (formerly Foundation for Individual Rights in Education): a non-profit civil liberties group founded in 1999 with the aim of protecting free speech rights on college campuses in the United States.
   • “President Trump may believe he has the power to revise the First Amendment with the stroke of a pen, but he doesn’t,” the free speech advocacy group FIRE said in a statement.2025 August 25, “Trump bans burning of US flag in defiance of constitutional protections”, in Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 31 Aug 2025