firings

Noun

firing (countable and uncountable, plural firings)

1. The process of applying heat or fire, especially to clay, etc., to produce pottery.
   • After the pots have been glazed, they go back into the kiln for a second firing.
2. The fuel for a fire.
   • No more dams I’ll make for fish;
     Nor fetch in firing
     At requiring […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
3. The act of adding fuel to a fire.
   • One driver told him that a fireman who did not know the route might easily go "over the side" between Corby and Harringworth, unless warned beforehand of the reverse curves; he himself, in his firing days, used to try so to plan his firing that it was unnecessary to add any more coal while passing...1945 July and August, “Notes and News: "A Nice Day's Work"”, in Railway Magazine, page 235
4. The discharge of a gun or other weapon.
   • […] they fir’d several Times, making other Signals for the Boat. At last, when all their Signals and Firings prov’d fruitless, and they found the Boat did not stir, we saw them by the Help of my Glasses, hoist another Boat out, and row towards the Shore […]1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 308
5. The dismissal of someone from a job due to poor work performance.
   • Even the most seasoned analysts of British politics were struck by the brutality of Ms. May’s hirings and firings.2016 July 19, Matthew d’Ancona, “Theresa May’s Shock Therapy”, in The New York Times
6. Cauterization.