Word.ws English Dictionary

shouted fire in a crowded theater

shouted fire in a crowded theater is the simple past of shout fire in a crowded theater.

shouted fire in a crowded theater is the past participle of shout fire in a crowded theater.

Meaning of shout fire in a crowded theater

Verb

shout fire in a crowded theater (third-person singular simple present shouts fire in a crowded theater, present participle shouting fire in a crowded theater, simple past and past participle shouted fire in a crowded theater)

  1. (idiomatic) To say something which is not protected by the First Amendment's right to freedom of speech because it would incite violence, panic or lawlessness.

Questions about shouted fire in a crowded theater

What is shouted fire in a crowded theater the simple past of?
Shouted fire in a crowded theater is the simple past of shout fire in a crowded theater.

Words near shouted fire in a crowded theater in the dictionary

  1. shoutboxes
  2. shoutdown
  3. shoutdowns
  4. shouted
  5. shouted down
  6. shouted fire in a crowded theater
  7. shouted from the rooftops
  8. shouted out
  9. shouted the odds
  10. shoutee
  11. shoutees

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: shouted fire in a crowded theater (page history and authors); shout fire in a crowded theater (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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