firestormn.
/ˈfʌɪəˌstɔːm/, U.S. /ˈfaɪ(ə)rˌstɔrm/ 1.
a. A storm accompanied by phenomena resembling fire, such as lightning or fireballs (fireball n. 2a). rare.Quot. 1581 is a paraphrase of quot. 1542 at fiery adj. 1a.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > an electrical storm
firestorm1581
Barcoo rot1934
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > lightning storm
firestorm1581
lightning storm1705
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 478 Helias..was taken vp into Heauen in a fire storme.
1640 J. Gower tr. Ovid Festivalls v. 110 Oft have I seen Jove, hurling his fire-storm, At sight of incense hold his threatning arm.
1871 Christian World (N.Y.) Dec. 901 A snow-storm, a hail-storm, a thunder-storm, all these we understand; but a fire-storm!..balls of fire were observed to fall like meteors in different parts of the town, igniting whatever they came into contact with.
2010 C. Rush Grandfather Tree vii. 121 She..watched with wide eyes the firestorm in front of her... Millions of strands of white-hot lightning poured down from a single point in the sky.
b. A fierce, destructive fire; esp. one into which surrounding air is drawn forcefully, intensifying the blaze.
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the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive
fireeOE
wildfirea1122
burningc1425
embrasement1483
combustion1611
scathefire1632
conflagration1656
empyrosisa1676
firestorm1836
1836 Amer. Monthly Mag. Apr. 411 He mark'd the fire-storm's blazing flood..scorching earth and melting wood, Beneath its greedy wrath.
1894 Times of India 24 Sept. 6 The deluge of flame swept over the town in resistless force. Men, women, and children..fell and perished, or were literally swept away by the fire storm and dropped hundreds of yards away and even further distance.
1905 Westm. Gaz. 13 May 6/2 Glowing embers as it were of the fire-storm [i.e., a grass fire].
1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 30 June 2 c/1 Exploding fire storms swept California's worst brush and timber fire of the year out of control.
2009 Metro 10 Feb. (London ed.) 5/1 One firestorm, the height of a four-storey building, tore through several towns in Victoria on Saturday night destroying everything.
c. spec. An intense fire combined with a strong inrush of wind, resulting from incendiary or nuclear bombing.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > strong or violent wind > following a conflagration
fire wind1836
firestorm1945
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > destructive > fire-storm started by bombing
fire wind1836
firestorm1945
1945 Over-all Rep. (European War) (U.S. Strategic Bombing Surv.) 93/1 Fire-storms occurred in Hamburg, Kassel, Darmstadt, and Dresden. Differing from an ordinary peacetime conflagration which begins at a center and then spreads, these storms occurred when incendiaries started many fires within a relatively short time over an extensively built up area.
1946 Atomic Bombings Hiroshima & Nagasaki (U.S. Army Manhattan Engineer District) 3 These storms soon combined in an immense ‘fire storm’ (high winds blowing inwards toward the center of a large conflagration) similar to those caused by ordinary mass incendiary raids.
1959 Times 26 June 11/2 Nearly half of these could be expected to die instantly, killed by blast or incinerated in the fire-storms caused by the explosions.
1981 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 19 Sept. 773/2 At Hiroshima the fire storm lasted for six hours after the explosion.
2. figurative. An intense and forceful response or outburst; a commotion or tumult.
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the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [noun] > violent or tumultuous action or outbreak
turmoil1526
tumult1580
hurlement1585
pother1603
hurricane1639
burst1649
flare-up1837
firestorm1957
1957 B. Smith Why we behave like Amer. vii. 105 Those who get caught up in the firestorm of community activity complain that there are too many organizations and too much going on.
1961 Corpus Christi (Texas) Times 2 Dec. 4/3 A firestorm of confusion now sweeps the nation on this one topic [sc. fallout shelters].
1984 J. D. Martz in R. G. Wesson Politics, Policies, & Econ. Devel. Lat. Amer. viii. 170 This proposed revision produced a political firestorm that raged for several months.
2011 Daily Mail (Nexis) 2 Nov. The Sunday newspaper [sc. News of the World] was axed amid a firestorm of controversy over phone-hacking.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1581