Meaning & use
fire somebody
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Meaning
verbtransitiveinformal
To remove someone from their job; to dismiss an employee.
Grammar: Takes a person as object: fire somebody. Often used in the passive: be fired.
Patterns
- fire somebody
- be fired from a job
- fire somebody for something
The manager fired three workers for breaking safety rules.
She was fired from her job after repeated lateness.
He got fired for stealing company equipment.
Word forms
| third person singular | fires |
|---|---|
| past tense | fired |
| past participle | fired |
| -ing form | firing |
Common combinations
- fire somebody for something
- They fired him for missing too many deadlines.
- get fired
- If you keep coming late, you'll get fired.
- be fired from a job
- She was fired from her job at the bank.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dismiss
- More formal and neutral; 'fire' is informal and direct.
- lay off
- Used when someone loses their job not because of poor performance but because the company needs to reduce staff.
- let go
- A softer, euphemistic way to say someone was fired.
Opposites
Word family
- firing noun
- The act of removing someone from their job: The firing caused a scandal.
Commonly confused: fire somebody or lay off?
fire somebody vs lay off
Similar but not the same: 'lay off' usually means job cuts for economic reasons, while 'fire' often suggests the person did something wrong.
Practice
The company ___ him after he was caught stealing.
Choose one answer.
'Fired' alone is correct because it takes a direct object. 'Fired from' needs a place, 'fired off' means to shoot or send quickly, and 'fired up' means to excite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fire somebody”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.