fire / fīr/ • n. 1. combustion or burning, in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat, and smoke. ∎  one of the four elements in ancient and medieval philosophy and in astrology. ∎  a destructive burning of something: a fire at a hotel. ∎  a collection of fuel, esp. wood or coal, burned in a controlled way to provide heat or a means for cooking: our kettle was kept constantly on the fire. ∎  a burning sensation in the body: the whiskey lit a fire in the back of his throat. ∎  fervent or passionate emotion or enthusiasm: the fire of their religious conviction. 2. the shooting of projectiles from weapons, esp. bullets from guns: a burst of machine-gun fire. ∎  strong criticism or antagonism: he directed his fire against policies promoting capital flight. • v. [tr.] 1. discharge a gun or other weapon in order to explosively propel (a bullet or projectile). ∎  discharge (a gun or other weapon). [intr.] troops fired on crowds. ∎  [intr.] (of a gun) be discharged. ∎  direct (questions or statements, esp. unwelcome ones) toward someone in rapid succession: they fired questions at me for what seemed like ages. ∎  (fire something off) send a message aggressively: he fired off a series of letters. 2. inf. dismiss (an employee) from a job: having to fire men who've been with me for years you're fired! 3. supply (a furnace, engine, boiler, or power station) with fuel. ∎  [intr.] (of an internal combustion engine, or a cylinder in one) undergo ignition of its fuel when started. 4. stimulate or excite (the imagination or an emotion): India fired my imagination. ∎  fill (someone) with enthusiasm: in the locker room they were really fired up. 5. bake or dry (pottery, bricks, etc.) in a kiln. 6. start (an engine or other device): with a flick of his wrist he fired up the chainsaw. PHRASES: catch fire begin to burn. ∎ fig. become interesting or exciting: the show never caught fire. fire and brimstone the torments of hell: his father was preaching fire and brimstone sermons. fire away inf. used to give someone permission to begin speaking, typically to ask questions. go through fire (and water) face any peril. light a fire under someone stimulate someone to work or act more quickly or enthusiastically. on fire in flames; burning. ∎  in a state of excitement. set fire to (or set something on fire) cause to burn; ignite. set the world on fire do something remarkable or sensational: the film hasn't exactly set the world on fire. under fire being shot at: observers sent to look for the men came under heavy fire. ∎  being rigorously criticized: the president was under fire from all sides.

FIRE

The primary result of combustion. The juridical meaning does not differ from the vernacular meaning.

It is a crime to burn certain types of property under particular circumstances, both under the common law and a number of state statutes. Some of these crimes are regarded as arson, but ordinarily, arson relates specifically to buildings and their contents.

The act of willfully and maliciously setting fire to property belonging to another person—such as stacks of hay or grain, grasses, fences, or wood—is ordinarily punishable as a misdemeanor. Some jurisdictions grade the offense as a felony.

Statutes relating to fires ordinarily define the acts required for conviction. Under these statutes, willfully is defined as meaning with an evil or malicious intent or malevolent motive.

An individual who willfully or negligently sets fire to his or her own woods, prairie land, or other specified areas might be guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition, it is a misdemeanor to burn such areas without first giving proper notice to adjacent landowners or for an individual to allow a fire kindled on his or her wood or prairie to escape and burn adjoining property.

Some statutes relate to burning cultivated ground. Such legislation exists to prevent disastrous fires, and they do not apply to ordinary acts of agriculture that are properly conducted, such as the setting of fire to an area of land to prepare for planting.

Under some statutes that prohibit or regulate the setting of fires, a monetary penalty is imposed on people who violate their provisions. Frequently an agency—such as a state board of forest park preservation commissioners—is named specifically in the statute to bring an action to collect the penalty. Some statutes impose liability on an individual who allows fire to escape from his or her own property even though such escape is not willful, while other statutes provide that a landowner who sets a fire as a result of necessity—such as a back fire used to subdue another fire—will not be held liable. An individual is usually free from liability when he or she is lawfully burning something on his or her own farm and the fire accidentally spreads to an adjacent farm or woods.

There is civil liability for damages at common law imposed upon anyone who willfully and intentionally sets a fire. Some statutes under which criminal liability is imposed for setting certain types of fires also make express provisions that the individual whose property is damaged by the fire may initiate a civil action to recover any loss. Generally, the limit of damages is the loss actually incurred by the fire. Some statutes, however, provide for the recovery of double or treble damages.

fire. In common with other ancient people, the Celts appear to have perceived fire to be the earthly counterpart of the sun. Although there is no Celtic Prometheus, fire is seen as a purifying element, a gift from the sun to humankind that can cleanse, warm, and illuminate as well as destroy. Like other people of cold, dark northern Europe, Celts venerated fire in several festivals, especially at the new year, 1 November (Samain) and the beginning of summer, 1 May (Beltaine); vestiges of these celebrations have survived in modern times. Great bonfires were built on these days as well as at midsummer, Christianized as St John's Day after the purported birthday of John the Baptist. Celebrations also included the rolling of huge fire-wheels. The classical commentators Julius Caesar and Strabo (both 1st cent. BC) testify that the Celts used man-shaped wicker figures in ritual sacrifices; animal and human victims could be burned alive in them. A 9th-century commentator linked the sacrifices with the thunder-god Taranis. The straw men burned in medieval and early Renaissance spring festivals may represent a survival of this sacrifice.

Brigit, the Irish fire-goddess, was transformed into St Brigid, the early Irish saint. The Breton St Barbe was reputed to be descended from a fire-goddess. St Patrick lit a paschal fire in Ireland, and Dewi Sant lit a fire to claim Wales. In the Irish pseudo-history *Lebor Gabála [Book of Invasions] Mide, chief druid of the Nemedians, lit the first fire in Ireland, at Uisnech, which blazed for seven years and was carried to every chief hearth of the island. In Irish folklore, fire was the best preventative against magic, fairy or otherwise. The Irish name Áed embodies another word for fire; Delbáeth means ‘fire shape’. OIr. teine; ModIr. tine, teine; ScG teine; Manx aile; W tân; Corn. tān; Bret. tan, tantad.

162. Fire

See also 200. HEAT ; 373. SMOKE

arsonist

a person who destroys property by fire, for revenge, insurance, etc.

empyrosis

Obsolete, a large-scale fire or conflagration.

incendiarism

the deliberate destruction of property by fire; arson. —incendiary , n., adj.

phlogiston

Obsolete Chemistry. a hypothetical ingredient thought to be released during combustion. —phlogistic , adj.

pyrogenous

Geology. produced by the action of heat, hot solutions, etc. —pyrogenic , adj.

pyrography

the process of burning designs on wood or leather with a heated tool. —pyrograph , pyrographer , n. —pyrographic , adj.

pyrolater, pyrolator

a fire-worshiper.

pyrolatry

the worship of fire.

pyromancy

a form of divination involving fire or flames.

pyromania

a persistent compulsion to start fires.

pyrophilia

a love of fire.

pyrophobia

an abnormal fear of fire.

tephramancy, tephromancy

a form of divination involving the examination of the ashes remaining after a sacrifice.

ustulation

Rare. the act or process of burning or searing. —ustorious , ustulate , adj.

vesuvian

an early type of match that was difficult to extinguish.

firing process of treating clay or other plastic ceramic materials with heat to produce a hard, durable but brittle material such as pottery. Primitive potters baked their clay in an open fire, but for firing at higher temperatures and for the use of glaze, a kiln is needed. In general, pottery is fired once to harden it into biscuit ware, then a glaze is applied and fused with the clay by a second firing. China painting, enamel work, and stained glass also require firing. Temperatures of firing vary from about 1,100°F (590°C) for fixing paint on glass to about 2,800°F (1,540°C) for producing hard porcelain. Certain ceramic materials, such as those used for rocket nose cones, are fired at still higher temperatures.

fir·ing / ˈfīring/ • n. the action of setting fire to something: the deliberate firing of 600 oil wells. ∎  the discharging of a gun or other weapon: the prolonged firing caused heavy losses no missile firings were planned. ∎  the dismissal of an employee from a job: the recent firing of the head of the department. ∎  the baking or drying of pottery or bricks in a kiln.

fire principle of combustion; burning material OE.; conflagration XII; heat of fever, passion, etc. XIV; firing of guns XVI. OE. fȳr = OS. fiur (Du. vuur), OHG. fiur, fuir (G. feuer) (cf. ON. poet. fúrr, fýrr), corr. to Gr. pûr, Umbrian pir, Czech pýr̆, Arm. hur, Toch. por, pwār.
Hence fire vb. OE. fȳrian supply with firing; set on fire, lit. and fig. XIII; discharge, explode XVI.

firing n.
1. the action of setting fire to something: the deliberate firing of 600 oil wells.

2. the discharging of a gun or other weapon: the prolonged firing caused heavy losses | no missile firings were planned.

Fire (in Hinduism): see AGNI.

fire •acquire, admire, afire, applier, aspire, attire, ayah, backfire, barbwire, bemire, briar, buyer, byre, choir, conspire, crier, cryer, defier, denier, desire, dire, drier, dryer, dyer, enquire, entire, esquire, expire, fire, flyer, friar, fryer, Gaia, gyre, hellfire, hire, hiya, ire, Isaiah, jambalaya, Jeremiah, Josiah, Kintyre, latria, liar, lyre, Maia, Maya, Mayer, messiah, mire, misfire, Nehemiah, Obadiah, papaya, pariah, peripeteia, perspire, playa, Praia, prior, pyre, quire, replier, scryer, shire, shyer, sire, skyer, Sophia, spire, squire, supplier, Surabaya, suspire, tier, tire, transpire, trier, tumble-dryer, tyre, Uriah, via, wire, Zechariah, Zedekiah, Zephaniah •homebuyer

firing •handspring • hamstring • herring •headspring • wellspring •airing, ballbearing, bearing, Behring, Bering, caring, daring, fairing, hardwearing, pairing, paring, raring, sparing, Waring, wearing •talebearing • childbearing •wayfaring • seafaring • cheeseparing •time-sharing • mainspring • keyring •gee-string • watch spring • offspring •boring, flooring, Goring, riproaring, roaring, scoring, shoring •drawstring • goalscoring •outpouring • bowstring • shoestring •bullring •auctioneering, clearing, earring, electioneering, engineering, gearing, orienteering, privateering, shearing •God-fearing • puppeteering •firing, retiring, uninspiring, untiring, wiring •during, mooring, reassuring, Turing •posturing • restructuring •meandering • rendering •pondering, wandering •ordering • maundering •plundering, thundering, wondering •offering • suffering • fingering •scaremongering • hankering •flickering, Pickering •tinkering • hammering • glimmering •unmurmuring • tampering •whimpering • whispering •smattering, unflattering •earthshattering • schoolmastering •Kettering • self-catering • wittering •quartering, watering •faltering • roistering • muttering •gathering • woolgathering •blithering •flavouring (US flavoring), unwavering •quivering •manoeuvring (US maneuvering) •covering • wallcovering •Goering, stirring, unerring