Meaning & use
fire
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Meanings
noununcountable
The heat, light and flames produced when something burns.
Grammar: Uncountable when it means flames in general: Fire needs oxygen. Countable for a particular blaze that people light.
Patterns
- light a fire
- build a fire
Fire needs oxygen to keep burning.
We sat around the fire, roasting marshmallows.
He kept the fire going all night.
nouncountable
An unwanted, destructive burning that damages buildings, forests or property.
Grammar: Countable: a house fire, forest fires.
Patterns
- a fire breaks out
- put out a fire
A fire broke out in the warehouse at midnight.
Firefighters spent hours putting out the forest fire.
The fire destroyed the old theater.
noununcountable
The shooting of guns or other weapons, or the bullets and shells fired.
Grammar: Often in phrases such as open fire or under fire.
Patterns
- open fire on someone
- under fire
The soldiers opened fire on the approaching vehicle.
The convoy came under heavy fire.
The police returned fire.
verbtransitiveinformal
To remove someone from their job, usually because of poor work or bad behavior.
Grammar: Takes a person as the object: they fired him.
Patterns
- fire someone for something
The company fired him for lying on his application.
She was fired after the third missed deadline.
The manager had to fire two employees last month.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To shoot a gun or launch a missile or other projectile.
Grammar: With an object (fire a gun) or without one (the soldier fired at the target).
Patterns
- fire at someone
- fire a weapon
The officer fired a warning shot into the air.
The guards fired at the fleeing car.
The ship fired its cannons in salute.
verbtransitivefigurative
To excite or inspire a feeling, such as enthusiasm or imagination, in someone.
Grammar: Often fire up or fire someone's imagination.
Patterns
- fire someone's imagination
- fire someone up
The story fired the children's imagination.
The coach's speech fired up the players.
Her words fired his ambition.
Word forms
| plural | fires |
|---|---|
| third person singular | fires |
| past tense | fired |
| past participle | fired |
| -ing form | firing |
Common combinations
- catch fire
- The curtains caught fire from a candle.
- set fire to
- Lightning set fire to the barn.
- put out a fire
- It took ten trucks to put out the fire.
- open fire
- The troops were ordered to open fire.
- fire someone
- The board decided to fire the chief executive.
- light a fire
- We lit a fire to keep warm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- blaze
- Blaze is a large, fierce fire and sounds more dramatic than fire.
- inferno
- Inferno suggests an enormous, uncontrollable fire, much stronger than fire itself.
- dismiss
- Dismiss is the formal word for firing an employee, and it sounds more neutral than fire.
- sack
- Sack is a British informal equivalent of fire someone.
Word family
- firefighter noun
- a person trained to put out fires
- fireplace noun
- an opening where a fire is lit in a room
- firework noun
- a device that makes bright explosions
- fiery adjective
- burning or full of strong emotion
- firing noun
- dismissal from a job or the shooting of weapons
Commonly confused: fire or flame?
fire vs flame
A flame is the visible burning part of a fire, whereas fire is the whole burning process.
Practice
Which sentence uses fire to mean dismiss from a job?
Choose one answer.
Only the second sentence means to dismiss employees. The first is flames, the third is shooting and the fourth is inspiring.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fire”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.