fire */*/*/

I UK [ˈfaɪə(r)] / US [faɪr] noun
Word forms "fire":
singular fire plural fires

1) [countable/uncountable] flames and heat from something that is burning in an uncontrolled way

The school was badly damaged by fire.

Three children died in a fire at their home last night.

be destroyed by fire:

The theatre was completely destroyed by fire.

start a fire:

It is thought that local youths may have started the fire.

fight/tackle/put out a fire:

Twenty firefighters tackled the fire.

a fire breaks out:

a fire broke out in a Paris nightclub.

a forest fire:

The hot dry weather has increased the risk of forest fires.

2) [countable] a small pile of burning wood, coal etc that you make in order to produce heat

a coal fire

make/build a fire:

We went off to collect wood to build a fire.

light a fire:

Once the fire was lit, the room seemed more inviting.

a blazing/roaring fire:

We sat in front of a blazing log fire.

3) [countable] British a piece of equipment that uses electricity or gas to heat a room

an electric/gas fire:

There was an old gas fire in the bedroom.

4) [uncountable] shots from a gun

We heard a sudden loud burst of machine gun fire.

Armed police arrived on the scene, and there was an exchange of fire.

5) [uncountable] formal strong feelings such as anger or enthusiasm

His words were full of fire and passion.

•

hang/hold fire — to wait before you take action; to not shoot at someone

The banks have decided to hold fire and not raise interest rates until after the election.

He ordered his men to hold their fire.

- catch fire

- come under fire

- draw fire

- fight fire with fire

- in the line of fire

- on fire

- set fire to something

See:

light III, open II, play I

II UK [ˈfaɪə(r)] / US [faɪr] verb
Word forms "fire":
present tense I/you/we/they fire he/she/it fires present participle firing past tense fired past participle fired

1) [intransitive/transitive] if a weapon fires, or if someone fires it, someone uses it to shoot

She squeezed the trigger, but the gun failed to fire.

fire at:

Jed lifted his rifle and fired at the target.

fire on/upon:

Police threatened to fire on demonstrators.

fire a gun/weapon:

The rebels fired their machine guns into the air.

fire a bullet/round/shot/missile etc:

Several shots were fired, and three men were seen running away.

fire back (= shoot at someone who is shooting at you):

The gunmen fired, and police fired back.

2) [transitive] to make someone leave their job, sometimes as a punishment

She was fired for refusing to comply with safety regulations.

He's the person responsible for hiring and firing.

3) [transitive] if you fire questions at someone, you ask them a lot of questions very quickly, so that it is difficult for them to answer

fire questions at someone:

Reporters fired questions at her as she left the court house.

4) [intransitive] if an engine fires, it starts to work

5) [transitive] to bake clay at a very high temperature so that it becomes very hard

•

- fire someone's imagination

- fire someone with enthusiasm

- firing on all cylinders

Phrasal verbs:

- fire away

- fire back at

- fire off

- fire up