wildfiren.
/ˈwʌɪl(d)fʌɪə/, U.S. /ˈwaɪl(d)ˌfaɪ(ə)r/ΘΚΠ
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
a1122 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) ann. 1032 On þissum geare atywde þæt wildefyr, ðe nan mann æror nan swylc ne gemunde.
c1366 Chronicon Brevius ann. 1047 in Eulogium Hist. (Rolls) III. 294 Mortalitas in Anglia et ignis aereus, quæ dicitur wildfire, blada combussit in pago Derebiæ.
?a1400 Morte Arth. 797 He hade weryede the worme by wyghtnesse of strenghte, Ne ware it fore the wylde fyre that he hyme wyth defendez.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 1870 How wild fyre was sloken sall be sene.
1538 J. Bale Tragedye Promyses God iii. B iv Wylde fyre and brymstone shall lyght vpon them all.
1634 Noble Souldier ii. i. C 4 b You to quench a wild fire, Cast oyle upon it.
2. In various specific uses (wild often implying ‘natural, not artificially produced’, or ‘out of doors, not domestic’: cf. wild adj. 1 – 4).† a. The flames of spirituous liquor burning on some dishes, as plum-pudding, when served up. Obsolete. rare.† b. A fire kindled out of doors for warmth. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > additive > garnish > [noun] > burning liquor
wildfirec1405
thunder and lightning1905
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §371 Swiche manere bake metes & disshmetes brennynge of wilde fyr.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > burning > a fire > [noun] > a kind of fire > outdoors, for warmth
wildfirea1400
camp-fire1837
a1400 Sir Perc. 855 Than wist Percyvelle by thatt, It servede hym of somwhatt The wylde fyre that he gatt.
c. Will-o'-the-wisp, ignis fatuus; also figurative.Also dialectally applied to other phosphorescent appearances: see Eng. Dial. Dict.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > light emitted under particular conditions > [noun] > phosphorescence > will-o'-the-wisp
fox-fire1483
foolish fire1563
ignis fatuus1563
fool's fire1583
Kit with the canstick or candlestick1584
going fire1596
will-o'-the-wisp1596
meteor1597
firedrake1607
wisp1618
ambulones1621
Dick-a-Tuesday1636
friar's lantern1645
gillian burnt-tail1654
Jill-burnt-tail1654
Jack-o'-lantern1658
fatuous fire1661
wildfire1663
wandering fire or light1667
Jack-a-Lent1680
fairy light1722
spunkie1727
Jill-o'-the-wisp1750
fen-fire1814
fatuus1820
marsh-light1823
feu follet1832
wisp-lighta1847
hob-lantern1847
ghost light1849
elf-fire1855
Peggy-with-her-lantern1855
fatuous light1857–8
marsh-fire1865
swamp fire1903
Min-Min1950
1663 G. Wharton Cal. Carolinum sig. A3v [They] wonder by what Wild fires they were led To feed on Thistles 'stead of wholsome Bread.
1672 [see sense 2e]. 1727 P. Walker Some Remarkable Passages Semple, Welwood & Cameron 94 Some Willies with the Wisps, or Spunkies of Wild-fire, seen mostly in boguish myrish Ground.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles vi. xxii. 253 As springs the wild-fire from the moss.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 116 Tho' yourself Be dazzled by the wildfire Love to sloughs That swallow common sense.
1873 C. M. Davies Unorthodox London (1876) 405 He taught..that intellectual culture without moral practice is a wildfire, and that conscience is the voice of God.
1885 J. Payn Talk of Town vii Led by wildfire of this sort to the brink of disappointment.
d. Lightning; esp. sheet lightning without audible thunder, ‘summer lightning’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > naturally occurring light > [noun] > lightning > sheet lightning
summer lightning1679
sheet lightning1794
wildfirea1831
heat-lightning1834
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > bad weather > thunder and lightning > [noun] > lightning > specific types
fireball1611
forked lightning1611
summer lightning1679
ball of fire1684
thunder-ball1686
sheet lightning1794
wildfirea1831
heat-lightning1834
globular lightning1843
ribbon lightning1888
beaded lightning1889
bead lightning1899
a1831 H. Mackenzie in R. Burns Wks. (1836) V. 407 Or was 't the wil'fire scorched their boughs?
1888 Tait in Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 330/1 What is called ‘summer lightning’ or ‘wild-fire’ is sometimes a rather puzzling phenomenon.
e. †Volcanic fire (obsolete); fire-damp in coal-mines.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > gas > [noun] > fumes or vapour > explosive gas in mines
dampa1592
firedamp1662
fire1672
wildfire1672
fulminating damp1675
dirt1831
sulphur1851
stifle1886
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > ejected volcanic material > [noun] > volcanic fire
fireeOE
furnace1660
wildfire1672
fire spout1739
1672 G. Sinclair Hydrostaticks 293 In some Coals..there is a certain Fire,..and I judge, that from its resemblance to Ignis fatuus, which the Vulgar termeth Wild fire, it hath the same name.
1692 J. Ray Misc. Disc. v. 155 If such Hills..may be, and have been elevated by subterraneous Wild-fire; flatus or Earthquakes.
1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal Mining Wild-fire, an old term used by colliers for fire-damp.
3. A composition of highly inflammable substances, readily ignited and very difficult to extinguish, used in warfare, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > fire, radiation, or chemical weapons > [noun] > fire as weapon
fire?c1225
Greek fire?c1225
Greekish fire?c1225
wildfire1297
firework1528
liquid firea1616
dragoon1626
fire chemise1728
Grecian fire1774
chemise-
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 8485 Hii asailede þe toun mid þis tour wel uaste, & wilde fur wiþ pich & grece.
a1400 Coer de L. 5229 With trepeiettes they slungen alsoo,..And blewe wylde-fyr in trumpes of gynne.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Wife of Bath's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) Prol. l. 373 Thow liknest..womanes loue..to wilde fyr The moore it brenneth the moore it hath desyr.
1471 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 278 At Londone brige anodyr sawte thay made agayne, Wyth gunpowdir and wildefire and straw eke.
1480 W. Worcester Itineraries 286 Destruxit per obcidionem ciuitatem per passceres cum wyldfyre ad eorum caudas ligatas volando ad ciuitatem.
1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry V f. lvi Some set skalyng ladders to the wal, and other cast in wylde fyre.
1629 F. Malthus tr. Treat. Artific. Fire-works 48 (heading) How to make a Shippe of wilde Fire.
a1642 W. Monson Naval Tracts (1704) iii. 344/2 Pikes of Wild-fire to stick burning into a Ship's side.
a1674 J. Milton Brief Hist. Moscovia (1682) i. 18 Then out of Morter-pieces they shoot wild-fire into the Aire.
1742 J. Wesley Jrnl. 26 Jan. The exceeding thick smoke, which was occasion'd by the wild fire and things of that kind, continually thrown into the room.
1783 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies (new ed.) I. 61 Chymistry was know'n; and wildfire had been invented.
1871 Fireworks & How to make them 58 Port or Wildfires. Saltpetre 4 parts, mealpowder 6 parts, and sulphur 3 parts.
4.
a. A name for erysipelas and various inflammatory eruptive diseases, esp. those in which the eruption spreads from one part to another.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > eruptive diseases > [noun] > erysipelas
wildfirec1000
St. Francis' fireOE
burning1382
erysipelas1398
holy fire1398
rose1599
fieriness of the face1600
fiery1600
Anthony's fire1609
sacred fire1693
sideration1828
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 114 Erysipila, wilde fyr.
a1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula 40 It quenchiþ wele herisiplam, þat is wilde fire or few sawage.
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball sig. 33 Lentilles..are good for..the wylde~fire and for the kybes.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxiii. Proeme 146 Shingles, ringworms, and such like wild-fires.
1614 G. Markham Sheep in Cheape & Good Husb. ix. 72 This disease which is called the wildfire is a very infectious sicknesse, and will indanger the whole flocke.
1818–20 E. Thompson Cullen's Nosologia (ed. 3) 331 Herpes; Ringworm; Shingles; Wildefire.
1841 W. Dick Man. Vet. Sci. 110 Erysipelas in sheep appears in various slight modifications... Wildfire..generally shews itself at the beginning of winter... The skin inflames and rises into blisters.
1907 ‘Q’ Merry-garden & Other Stories , Black Joke i Wounds showing signs of inflammation and threatening to set up wildfire.
b. A leaf-spot disease of tobacco, caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas tabaci. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > various diseases
red rot1798
bunt1800
heart rot1808
yellow rust1808
pepperbrand1842
black spot1847
take-all1865
anthracnose1877
coffee-leaf disease1877
white rot1879
bladder-brand1883
basal rot1896
whitehead1898
black root rot1901
chancre1903
black pod1904
bud-rot1906
frog-eye1906
wildfire1918
pasmo1926
blind-seed disease1939
sharp eyespot1943
the world > plants > disease or injury > [adjective] > of or having fungal disease
rustyc1503
smutty1597
smutched1620
slaina1642
smutty1667
sooty1697
rusted1763
spurred1763
smutted1766
leaf spot1846
fly-speck1855
ergotized1860
tagged1892
mummied1893
mummified1895
conky1905
rhynchosporium1918
Alternaria1924
Sigatoka1925
pasmo1926
sclerotinia1926
oak wilt1942
silver-leaf1946
wildfire1971
1918 Jrnl. Agric. Res. 12 451 The disease appeared so quietly, spread so rapidly, and affected the leaves so seriously that it was commonly given the appropriate designation ‘wildfire’.
1955 Sci. News Let. 29 Jan. 73/2 Immunity to wildfire..was first transferred..from a wild tobacco species.
1971 Nature 15 Jan. 174/1 Wildfire disease of tobacco is perhaps the most thoroughly studied of all toxin-mediated plant diseases.
5. † b. In imprecations (in sense 3 or 4). Obsolete.
a. figurative or in figurative allusions (usually from sense 3, sometimes 4), in reference to a destructive agency, or to excited, violent, or fervid feeling or utterance.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > violent action or operation > [noun] > violent thing or being
wildfirea1400
rager1440
ring-tailed roarer1828
sirocco1859
head-the-ball1958
the mind > emotion > passion > ardour or fervour > [noun] > a burning feeling of passion
heatc825
leye971
flamea1340
fire1340
swelmea1400
wildfirea1400
burning1822
the mind > language > speech > [noun] > that which is or can be spoken > impassioned
wildfirea1400
storm1602
mouth-grenado1647
seraphics1709
mouth-grenade1714
ecstatics1821
stem-winder1875
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [noun] > one who or that which destroys > whirlpool, whirlwind, or wildfire
whirlwindc1384
wildfirea1400
whirlpool?1529
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 4314 Thoru þine [MS þire] ei þe sal be sent A flan, wit wild fire al brent, First to brin þin hert wit-in.
c1425 Cast. Persev. 2116 in Macro Plays 140 Belsabub..Bad me brenne þee with wyld fere.
1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 271 b What thunderboltes and wildefire he [sc. the Pope] threw out of his bloudy turrettes agaynst Luther's life.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares To Rdr. Neuer more let him looke to quench wilde fire with milke.
1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrifice in Wks. (Grosart) II. 18/1 The wilde-fire of my Passions burnèd me.
1647 J. Hall Poems i. 34 Admit no wildfire in Poetick rage.
a1657 G. Daniel Idyllia in Poems (1878) IV. iv. 106 Caesar..Is but a Wild-fire to wast Senate Raggs, And silence Cato.
1736 D. Neal Hist. Puritans III. 539 It was impossible to stop the impetuous wildfire of the army.
1765 Ann. Reg., Char. 1 The wild-fire of applause or reproach is let off at the authors, in an undistinguishing blaze.
1825 W. Scott Betrothed iii, in Tales Crusaders I. 58 That which will but warm your Flemish hearts, will put wildfire into Norman brains.
1888 C. M. Doughty Trav. Arabia Deserta II. 148 There is a wild-fire in my heart which cannot be appeased till I be avenged.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > malediction > oaths > [interjection] > oaths other than religious or obscene > imprecations
woeOE
dahetc1290
confoundc1330
foul (also shame) fall ——c1330
sorrow on——c1330
in the wanianda1352
wildfirea1375
evil theedomc1386
a pestilence on (also upon)c1390
woe betide you (also him, her, etc.)c1390
maldathaita1400
murrainc1400
out ona1415
in the wild waning worldc1485
vengeance?a1500
in a wanion1549
with a wanion1549
woe worth1553
a plague on——a1566
with a wanion to?c1570
with a wanyand1570
bot1584
maugre1590
poxa1592
death1593
rot1594
rot on1595
cancro1597
pax1604
pize on (also upon)1605
vild1605
peascod1606
cargo1607
confusion1608
perditiona1616
(a) pest upon1632
deuce1651
stap my vitals1697
strike me blind, dumb, lucky (if, but—)1697
stop my vitals1699
split me (or my windpipe)1700
rabbit1701
consume1756
capot me!1760
nick me!1760
weary set1788
rats1816
bad cess to1859
curse1885
hanged1887
buggeration1964
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1188 Ho-so faileþ for feyntyce wild fur him for-brenne.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 252 A wilde fyr on thair bodyes falle.
c1407 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 3802 That she wolde, in her entent, In wilde fire that he were brent.
c1525 J. Rastell New Commodye Propertes of Women sig. Bi That a wyld fyre bren the celestena.
a1626 W. Rowley Birth of Merlin (1662) sig. E4 Wilde-fire and Brimstone eat thee.
1709 A. Pope Chaucer's January & May in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 217 So may some Wildfire on your Bodies fall.
c. like wildfire: with immense rapidity and effect; very swiftly and forcibly: usually with run, spread, etc.; hence occasionally gen. forcibly, vigorously. (The commonest current use.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > rapidity or speed of action or operation > with rapid action [phrase]
in hastec1300
on wheelsc1547
like wildfire1699
like magic1783
like a shot1809
a dose of salts1837
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swiftly [phrase] > very swiftly
as swift (also quick, fleet) as thought?c1225
like lightning1567
(as) quick as lightning1580
like wildfire1699
like stour1787
(as) quick as a wink1825
like smoke1832
quick as a streak1839
like sixty1848
(as) quick as thought1871
at a great lick1898
like a bat out of hell1921
like the clappers1948
like a bomb1954
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > acting vigorously or energetically [phrase] > with great vigour or energy
with (also in) mood and maineOE
vigour13..
with or by (all one's) might and mainc1330
with (one's) forcec1380
like anything1665
hammer and tongs1708
like stour1787
(in) double tides1788
like blazes1818
like winking1827
with a will1827
like winky1830
like all possessed1833
in a big way1840
like (or worse than) sin1840
full swing1843
like a Trojan1846
like one o'clock1847
like sixty1848
like forty1852
like wildfire1857
like old boots1865
like blue murder1867
like steam1905
like stink1929
like one thing1938
like a demon1945
up a storm1953
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. L1 Whose words like wild fire burnt the shining glorie Of rich-built Illion.]
1699 W. Dampier Voy. & Descr. ii. ii. 58 We set fire to it [sc. sedgy grass], which runs like Wild-fire.
1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 124 Though I was at that time rich in fame, for my book ran like wild-fire, yet I was very short in money.
1837 B. Disraeli Venetia I. 168 The report..spread like wildfire through the town.
1857 Reade Course of True Love, Clouds & Sun. i She would..go..and flirt like wild-fire for a fortnight.
1886 19th Cent. Dec. 883 With such thoughts running like wild-fire through her mind.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. (In sense 3.)
wildfire arrow n.
ΚΠ
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Wild-Fire Arrows, such as are trimmed with Wild-Fire.
wildfire ball n.
ΚΠ
1614 A. Gorges tr. Lucan Pharsalia vi. 222 Shoures of wildefire balls.
wildfire plot n.
ΚΠ
1641 (title) A wild-fire plot found out in Ireland, shewing how the rebels would have consumed the city of Dublin with wild-fire.
b. figurative (cf. sense 5).
wildfire blood n.
ΚΠ
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet III. v. 128 The wild-fire blood of Redgauntlet.
wildfire zeal n.
ΚΠ
1601 Bp. W. Barlow Def. Protestants Relig. sig. A3 A wilde-fire zeale.
C2.
wildfire rash n. a disease of infants, a form of strophulus with a wandering eruption (cf. 4).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > eruptive diseases > [noun] > of infants
red gownc1400
red gum1597
white-gum1684
milk-blotch1797
strophulus1798
crusta lactea1806
tooth-rash1818
gum-rash1822
wildfire rash1822
teething rash1899
diaper rash1919
nappy rash1936
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 549 Children..liable to the strophulus volaticus or wild-fire rash.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1924; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.c1000- nonemploying
- nonemployment
- nonemployments
- nonemptiness
- nonempty
- nonene
- nonenforcement
- nonenforcements
- nonenglish
- nonenglishspeaking
- nonenquiring
- nonens
- nonent
- nonentanglement
- nonented
- nonentitative
- nonentities
- nonentitious
- nonentitive
- nonentitize
- nonentitous
- nonentity
- nonentityism
- nonentres
- nonentreses