fireth

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

   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.
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
6. (transitive) To shoot (a gun, rocket/missile, or analogous device).
   • We will fire our guns at the enemy.

   Synonyms:

   let off, loose, shoot

See all 43 meanings of fire