red firen.adj.
/ˈrɛd ˈfʌɪə/, U.S. /ˈrɛd ˈfaɪ(ə)r/ A. n.
An intense red light produced by pyrotechnics; (now chiefly historical) a mixture ignited to produce this, typically containing strontium.In quot. 1919 figurative.
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the world > matter > light > firework > [noun] > parts of
quill1629
report1653
red fire1680
cartouche1719
blue light1761
sun case1765
choke1786
settle1873
touchpaper1873
wheel-case1875
lance1878
starting powder1886
pastille1890
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > machinery for effects > others
red fire1680
lightning box1825
blue fire1826
rain box1867
crash1891
wind-machine1906
1680 P. Rycaut Hist. Turkish Empire 319 A sort of Rocket, which went up very high,..carrying only a small compacted Globe of red fire like a Star.
1730 R. Bradley Course Lect. Materia Medica 88 The red Fire is made of Steel-Dust and this Gum [sc. galbanum], with Gunpowder finely pulverized.
1803 F. Accum Syst. Theoret. & Pract. Chem. II. lxix. 244 A beautiful red fire may also be produced by mixing one part of nitrate of strontia with two or three parts of charcoal powder.
1888 Bismarck (Dakota Territory) Daily Tribune 19 Aug. 1/3 All the fire and dynamite, stage thunder and panorama lightning, sky rockets and red fire will be cherished and preserved until November 5th.
1919 Jrnl. Industr. & Engin. Chem. 11 71/2 Set off as much red fire as you like but be sure it lights up the object instead of drawing the attention away from it.
1965 D. Arundell Story of Sadler's Wells vii. 80 The 1807 season... A wonderful reflection on the water of a palace in flames (produced by the new ‘Redfire’—strontia, shellac, chlorate of potash and charcoal).
2000 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 5 Mar. 36 As the first spiral of red fire leaps into the sky, the crackers fall silent and excited anticipation envelopes the crowd.
B. adj.
poetic. That resembles red fire. rare.
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1918 D. H. Lawrence New Poems 15 As it guards the wild north cloud-coasts, red-fire seas running through The rocks.
1987 D. Hall Seasons at Eagle Pond iv. 74 Swampmaples explode like Fourth of July nightworks, small red-fire fountains on low land.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1680