overfire

Adjective

overfire (not comparable)

1. Of a boiler, furnace, or other heating device: relating to components or other things that are located above the fire.
   • In the interest of smoke abatement, overfire jets are now installed on thousands of commercial and industrial coal-fired furnaces. [...] The overfire jet is a device for providing turbulence and/or overfire air above the fuel bed of hand-fired and stoker-fired furnaces.1952 December, William S. Major, “The Theory and Practice in the Use of Overfire Jets”, in The Michigan Technic, volume LXXI, number 3, page 13
   • Volatile matter in the vapor form and carbon monoxide just above the bed must be fully mixed with overfire air to complete the combustion process. At low firing rates it is important to minimize the amount of overfire air to prevent cooling of the volatile matter resulting in incomplete combustion...1989 October, Central Boiler Plants (Technical Manual; TM 5-650), [Washington, D.C.?]: Headquarters, Department of the Army, →OCLC, page 1-13

Verb

UK/ˌəʊvəˈfaɪə/US/ˌoʊvɚˈfaɪ(ə)ɹ/

overfire (third-person singular simple present overfires, present participle overfiring, simple past and past participle overfired)

1. (transitive) To create too large a fire in a fireplace, furnace, firebox, etc.
   • I found that the Chapelon steamed almost too freely, because on a strange locomotive and road one usually tends to overfire a little through a natural lack of confidence.1961 February, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives - Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 110
   • Overfiring the appliance may cause a house fire. If a unit or chimney connector glows, you are overfiring.1985, Code of Federal Regulations: Commercial Practices […], Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office for the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Service...

   Synonyms:

   overstoke

2. (transitive) To fire at a high (or excessively high) temperature.
   • BUBBLES IN GLAZE may be caused by too heavy an application, or by severe underfiring or overfiring. [...] LOSS OF COLOR IN CHINA PAINTING is a result of overfiring or mixing too much medium with the paint. Be careful not to overfire china colors, and if a light shade of a dark color is needed...[20th century], Installing and Operating Paragon P-Series Electric Kilns [instruction manual], Dallas, Tex.: Paragon Industries, page 19
   • At this point overfiring begins, as is shown particularly by the volume curve, which indicates decided bloating, so that at 1450°C the clay has about the same volume it had at 1050°C before vitrification took place. At 1450°C it is, therefore, decidedly overfired. However, its excellent burning...1919, United States. Bureau of Standards, Technologic Papers of the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, page 15

   Antonyms:

   underfire

3. (transitive) Of a cell or group of cells: to fire excessively.
   • Geoffery Schultz, a student of [Ronald] Melzack, has recently conducted a study showing that visual hallucinations need not be caused by psychopathology but may result from the disruption of sensory input among patients suffering eye damage. The neuromatrix, in Melzack's theory, overfires its...2003, Ariel Glucklich, Sacred Pain: Hurting the Body for the Sake of the Soul, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 57

   Antonyms:

   underfire