Word.ws English Dictionary

fireworks

Syllables: fire·worksUK/ˈfaɪ̯.ə.wɜːks/US/ˈfaɪ̯.ɚ.wɝks/

fireworks is the plural of firework.

Noun

fireworks pl (plural only)

  1. (plural, plural-only) An event or a display where fireworks are set off.
    • 5000 Marrons in Battery, which continue firing to the End of the Fireworks.1749, A Description of the Machine for the Fireworks, with All Its Ornaments, and a Detail of the Manner in which They are to be Exhibited in St. James's Park, Thursday, April 27, 1749, on Account of...
    • By now, a great many people were walking towards the fireworks but their steps fell so softly and they chatted in such gentle voices there was no more noise than a warm, continual, murmurous humming, the cosy should of shared happiness, and the night filled with a muted, bourgeois yet authentic...1974, Angela Carter, “A Souvenir of Japan”, in Fireworks: Nine Profane Pieces, London: Quartet Books, →ISBN
  2. (figuratively, plural, plural-only) A boisterous or violent event or situation.
    • I left the room after John came home drunk but before the fireworks went off.
    • Legal fireworks began yesterday in Benin at the pre-hearing of the petition by the People's Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the September 28, 2016 election in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, challenging the declaration of Mr. Godwin Obaseki of All Progressives Congress, APC, by...2016 December 2, Simon Ebegbulem, Gabriel Enogholase, “Legal fireworks as Edo gov election tribunal begins hearing”, in Vanguard, Lagos, Nigeria, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2016

Meaning of firework

Noun

firework (plural fireworks)

  1. (plural, usually) A device using gunpowder and other chemicals which, when lit, emits a combination of coloured flames, sparks, whistles or bangs, and sometimes made to rocket high into the sky before exploding, used for entertainment or celebration.
    • Commercial firework displays are commonly launched from boats or other vessels

Synonyms of fireworks

Origin of fireworks

From fire + work(s). The similarity with Dutch vuurwerk and German Feuerwerk, both “fireworks”, is hardly coincidental. Since the word was apparently first attested in English circa 1575, probably from the Dutch (1540), from the German (sense early 16th c.), from Middle High German viurwerc (14th c. as “fuel, firewood”). A spread from the south northwards is also in line with the fact that the first European fireworks were produced in Italy in the late 14th century.

Words formed from fireworks

Phrases with fireworks

Questions about fireworks

What does fireworks mean?
Fireworks means an event or a display where fireworks are set off.
What is fireworks the plural of?
Fireworks is the plural of firework.
What part of speech is fireworks?
Fireworks is a noun.
How do you pronounce fireworks?
Fireworks is pronounced /ˈfaɪ̯.ə.wɜːks/ (UK).

Words near fireworks in the dictionary

  1. Firework Night
  2. fireworker
  3. fireworkers
  4. fireworkless
  5. fireworklike
  6. fireworks
  7. fireworks display
  8. fireworks night
  9. fireworks nights
  10. fireworky
  11. fireworm

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: fireworks (page history and authors); firework (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-fireworks.ogg.

Cite this entry: “fireworks.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fireworks. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.