Word.ws English Dictionary

seafire

seafire noun: light which sometimes occurs (caused by the bioluminescence or biophosphorescence of certain organisms) and is visible in seawater on dark nights, typically a pale blue or green colour.

Noun

seafire

  1. Light which sometimes occurs (caused by the bioluminescence or biophosphorescence of certain organisms) and is visible in seawater on dark nights, typically a pale blue or green colour.
    • And when the moon goes down, lo, a wonder on the sea: the waves beat in flame upon the shore; it is fringed with phosphorescence of shifting hue, like acres of electric light. And that is […] that strange seafire we know as little as they who imagined a lake of fire and brimstone.1894, Moncure Daniel Conway, Lessons for the day, discourses, volume 1, page 10
    • Bright seafire runs about a plunging keel / On vehement nights : and where black danger lies, / Gleam the torn breakers. / But all days reveal / Drear dooms for me, nor any nights disguise / Their menace: […]1895, Lionel Johnson, Poems, page 29

Examples of seafire in a sentence

  • Then it shallowed to two and the oars churned up seafire all about us.1919 06, “Boys' Life”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 54:
  • Vaiki hit with a resounding splash amid a burst of seafire that was rising and breaking in luminous stars all over the anchorage. […] the next incoming wave.1923, J. Allan Dunn, “Wild Justice”, in Adventure, volume 39, page 75:

Origin of seafire

From sea + fire. Compare Shetland mareel from Old Norse marr (“sea”) + eldr (“fire”), and marfire.

Questions about seafire

What does seafire mean?
Seafire means light which sometimes occurs (caused by the bioluminescence or biophosphorescence of certain organisms) and is visible in seawater on dark nights, typically a pale blue or green colour.
How do you use seafire in a sentence?
Then it shallowed to two and the oars churned up seafire all about us.
What part of speech is seafire?
Seafire is a noun.

Words near seafire in the dictionary

  1. seafares
  2. seafaring
  3. seafarings
  4. SEAFDEC
  5. Seafield
  6. seafire
  7. seafish
  8. seaflood
  9. seafloods
  10. seafloor
  11. seafloor spreading

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: seafire (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.

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