fire1 nounfire2 verb
firefire1 /faɪə $ faɪr/ ●●● S1 W1 noun 
WORD ORIGINfire1
Origin:
Old English fyrEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A forest fire had been raging in the south and the sky in that direction had a deep red glow.
- Could you bring in some wood for the fire?
- Eleven people died in a fire in Chicago early Monday.
- In the evenings the whole family would gather around the fire.
- Investigators say the fire probably broke out in the hotel kitchen.
- Most animals are afraid of fire.
- My feet were on fire after the trek up the mountain.
- Police believe the fire in the store was started deliberately.
- The fire quickly spread throughout the building.
- The fire was started by an electrical fault.
- The old man lit a fire in the stove of the front room.
- The ship was hit by fire from a German plane.
- There's nothing more comforting than a blazing log fire.
- There was a sudden burst of machine gun fire.
- We noticed that the enemy fire was now being directed at our part of the field.
- When did humans first learn to use fire?
- Winds quickly spread the fire across the valley.
- Georg Latzelberger, was destroyed in a forced-landing having been hit by both fighters and A.A. fire.
- He thought that they would stay there, the track giving them visibility and line of fire.
- It will not even perish by the flames of fire.
- The most commonly used pumps are submersible electric ones that pump out water through what looks like a fire hose.
- The rebel musketry fire was pouring... upon our men, who were closing together and rallying under the attack.
- The three main mast tips suddenly spout fire casting an eerie glow over the ship.
- You got the fire way up high.
THESAURUS
flames that burn in an uncontrolled way and destroy or damage things: · In April, a fire at the school destroyed the science block.· a forest fire
the bright parts of a fire that you see burning in the air: · The flames from the burning building were lighting up the night sky.
written a large and dangerous fire – used especially in news reports: · Firemen fought to keep the blaze under control.
written an extremely large and dangerous fire which is out of control – used especially in news reports: · The entire building was on fire and hundreds of people were trapped in the inferno.
formal a very large fire that destroys a lot of buildings, trees etc: · The conflagration spread rapidly through the old town.
Longman Language Activatora fire that damages a building, forest, etc · Eleven people died in a fire in Chicago early Monday.fire spreads (=gets bigger or worse) · The fire quickly spread throughout the building.fire breaks out (=starts suddenly) · Investigators say the fire probably broke out in the hotel kitchen.start a fire · The fire was started by an electrical fault.forest fire · A forest fire had been raging in the south and the sky in that direction had a deep red glow.
a large and dangerous fire that burns very strongly: · Firefighters struggled to control the blaze.· The church was completely destroyed in the blaze.
a very large, very hot, and very dangerous fire, especially in an enclosed space such as a building - used especially in newspapers and in literature: · Eleven homes and several businesses were destroyed in the inferno.· He rushed back into the inferno to rescue his two-year-old sister, Cora, who had been trapped inside.
the bright parts of a fire that you see burning in the air: · I saw flames coming from the engine.· She frantically sprayed the flames with a fire extinguisher.
a fire for making you warm, for cooking, or for burning things a small, controlled fire that you make in order to provide heat or to cook food: · Could you bring in some wood for the fire?· In the evenings the whole family would gather around the fire.log/coal etc fire (=a fire that burns logs, coal etc): · There's nothing more comforting than a blazing log fire.light a fire (=make it burn): · The old man lit a fire in the stove of the front room.
a large outdoor fire used for burning dead leaves, wood, or things you do not need, or used for celebrations: light a bonfire (=make it burn): · The bonfire will be lit at 7.00 p.m., with fireworks starting just 15 minutes later.build/make a bonfire: · They piled up scrap wood, boxes and other junk and made a big bonfire.
a fire made outdoors for people who are camping, used for keeping them warm and cooking: · Never leave a campfire unattended.sit around the campfire: · That night we sat around the campfire telling stories.
the heat and light produced by something that is burning · Most animals are afraid of fire.· When did humans first learn to use fire?
the hot bright area of burning gas which is produced by something that is burning: · Natural gas burns with a bright blue flame.· You can sterilize a needle by holding it in a flame.· The candle flame flickered and then went out.
to make or start a fire · He made a fire out of old rags and newspapers.· There isn't enough wood here to build a fire.
to deliberately make a fire start burning, especially in order to provide heat or to cook something: · It was her job to light a fire every morning before the family got up.· In such a strong wind it was almost impossible to light a fire.
to make a fire start burning, especially in a place where it might cause damage: · The kids accidentally started a fire in the garage.· The fire was started by a carelessly tossed cigarette.
the crime of deliberately starting a fire in order to damage a building or property: · Police are treating the fire as a case of arson.· Brooks was arrested for arson in North Carolina.
to stop a fire from burning to make a fire stop burning: put out the fire/blaze/flames: · It took firefighters four hours to put out the blaze.put something out: · She threw sand on the fire to put it out.
formal to stop a fire burning: · He managed to extinguish the flames with his coat.· It took several hours to extinguish the blaze.
to make a flame or fire stop burning by blowing on it: blow out a candle/match/fire etc: · He blew out the candle and went to sleep.blow something out: · We tried to light a fire but the wind kept blowing it out.
to cover a fire with something in order to stop it from burning: · If the victim's clothes are burning, use a blanket to smother the flames.
people whose job is to stop fires someone whose job is to stop fires burning: · Firefighters rescued the children, who were trapped in an upstairs room.· It took firefighters over two hours to put out the fire.· Over 300 firefighters were killed when the North Tower collapsed.
especially British a man whose job is to stop fires burning: · Two firemen died in a blaze.· I wanted to be a fireman when I was a child.
British /the fire department American the organization in a town or area that works to prevent fires and to stop fires burning: · The fire brigade arrived promptly and the fire was quickly brought under control.· Spending on police and fire departments accounts for about 55 percent of the city's general fund.
when something starts burning also catch on fire especially American to start burning accidentally: · Two farm workers died when a barn caught fire yesterday.· The car turned over, but luckily it didn't catch fire.· There was an explosion, and the whole garage caught on fire.
to suddenly start burning and produce a lot of flames that cause serious damage: · The plane crashed into the side of the mountain and burst into flames.· Without warning the toaster burst into flames.
if a building or vehicle goes up or goes up in flames , it starts burning very quickly and usually is destroyed by fire: · Be careful with those matches, or the whole place will go up in flames!· The fire spread slowly until it reached the gas cylinders, then the factory went up in flames.· If the oil tanker goes up, it could burn for weeks.
if a fire breaks out , it starts burning accidentally and spreads very quickly: · Over £20,000 worth of damage was caused when a fire broke out in the cellar.· Would you know what to do if a fire broke out in your school?
to suddenly begin to burn, or suddenly burn much more strongly than before, with a strong, bright flame: · The spilled gasoline suddenly flared up in a sheet of flame.· They threw some dry wood onto the bonfire and it flared up, showering sparks into the night sky.
to start burning: · Scientists could not explain why the gas had suddenly ignited.· The compound ignites at 450 degrees Celsius.
to make something start burning to make something start to burn, so that it gets damaged: · Vandals set fire to an empty warehouse near the docks last night.· Teresa wondered if the burning log might set fire to the curtains.· The Vikings attacked villages along the coast and set them on fire.· The heat from the stove almost set the wallpaper on fire.
: light a cigarette/fire/candle etc to make a cigarette, fire etc start to burn: · Ricky sat down and lit a cigarette.· We searched around for twigs and fallen branches, so we could light a fire.
informal to deliberately make something start to burn in order to destroy it: · It looked to me like someone had torched the place.
to make something start to burn, especially something that burns easily such as a gas or chemical: · The gas is ignited by an electrical spark.· If the mixture proves difficult to ignite, increase the proportion of ethylene.
when something is burning to produce flames and heat: · A pile of branches was burning in the yard.· At one end of the room a coal fire burned brightly.· The candle flickered briefly, then burned with a steady flame.
if a building, vehicle, or piece of clothing is on fire , it is burning: · Large areas of the forest are reported to be on fire.· Before long the neighboring houses were on fire too.
also be ablaze to be on fire with a lot of flames, causing serious damage: · When the fire department arrived the whole school was in flames.· Twelve hours after the bombing raid, many parts of the city were still ablaze.
burning very brightly with a lot of flames and heat: · They sat on the sofa in front of a blazing fire.· The heat from the blazing car could be felt several metres away.
British /smolder American to burn slowly, producing smoke but no flames: · The fire in the chemical factory was so intense that it was still smouldering a week later.· A cigarette smoldered in the ashtray.· a pile of smoldering leaves
if a fire or flame flickers , it burns unsteadily: · A welcoming fire flickered in the grate.· Inside the shrine candles flicker next to statues of saints.
to be criticized · The unions came in for strong criticism from the government after the strike.· Caro came in for a lot of criticism for his biography of the late president.
to be severely criticized, especially in public: · Banks are under attack for their refusal to reduce interest rates on loans to small businesses.come under attack/fire: · His theories came under attack from other scientists.· The police department has come under fire for the recent rise in violent crime.
informal to be criticized a lot for something: · Ferguson's been getting a lot of flak for the team's poor performance recently.· The immigration department is taking a lot of political flak for not moving faster to help the refugees.
if someone or something is open to criticism , there are good reasons for criticizing them: · The general is open to criticism for his handling of the war.· Current reforms in the legal system may be open to criticism if they appear to be undemocratic.
British /be on the firing line American to be the person who is most likely to be criticized for something, even if you are not the only person who is responsible for it: · As head of the police department, Hall is constantly on the firing line.· When you're in the firing line, it's tempting to avoid making difficult decisions.
an organization, person in authority etc that is criticized, especially by a lot of people: target of: · Kay was the target of a noisy demonstration in which 54 people were arrested.target for: · The Communist Party has become the main target for critical attack among left-wing intellectuals.
to be likely to be dangerous to people or things to be likely to harm other people or things: · People who drink and drive are a danger to themselves and to others.· The judge described Thomas as 'a danger to the public'.· Extreme nationalism is the single greatest danger to peace in the modern world.
formal if a situation or the existence of something poses a threat , it is dangerous to people: · Supplies of food were so low that this posed a threat as serious as invasion.pose a threat to: · Chemicals in our drinking water could pose a serious threat to public health.pose no threat: · Scientists feel that present levels of radiation pose no threat.
if an activity or a problem threatens something such as a place, animal, or way of life, it could cause it to no longer exist: · Illegal hunting threatens the survival of the African elephant.· By August, it was clear that the volcano could threaten the whole island.
someone who is a menace behaves in a dangerous way, without thinking about the safety of other people: · Drivers like that are a menace. They shouldn't be allowed on the road.be a menace to: · We consider drug trafficking to be a menace to the security of our nation.
to be likely to kill people, cause accidents etc: · Ice on the road is a major hazard at this time of the year.be a hazard to: · The residents of Hollyhurst Road complained that cars parked there were a hazard to pedestrians.be a fire/health/environmental etc hazard: · Garbage that is left uncollected becomes a serious health hazard.
a situation or object that is likely to cause a fire or to damage people's health: · Litter problems and a high fire risk mean that there is now restricted camping on the route.· Cigarettes are acknowledged as a serious health risk and the main cause of lung cancer.
informal if a building, road, car etc is a death-trap , it is very dangerous to enter or use, for example because it is in very bad condition, or is badly designed: · Fire-safety inspectors described the basement night-club as a death trap.· The ancient bridge was described as a potential death trap for the tourists that flock there.
to do something that may hurt or kill you to do something very dangerous, especially in order to help someone, when you know that you may get killed because of your action: · Every day firefighters risk their lives in the course of their duty.risk your life to do something: · She risked her life to save the drowning child.
if you do something at your own risk , you must accept that it is dangerous and that it is your own fault if you are injured or killed: · Anyone who swims in this part of the river does it at their own risk.
informal to do something very dangerous in order to help someone - use this especially when you think the action is unnecessary: · Don't do it. It's not worth risking your neck.risk your neck to do something: · "Come back!" Ned shouted. "You can't risk your neck to save a dog!"
to do something that could have a very dangerous or harmful result: · Failure to stick to the safety rules is simply playing with fire.· These men are criminals. If you get involved with them, you'll be playing with fire.
informal to put yourself in a situation in which you may get killed, especially when it is a situation which you cannot control: · The teenager took his life in his hands in trying to avoid being caught by police.· You'll be taking your life in your hands if you let Eric drive you home!
to deliberately do something that is so dangerous that you may easily get killed, especially when you do it for excitement: · When young people experiment with drugs, they're dicing with death.
formal if you warn someone that they do something at their peril , you mean that it would be very dangerous for them to do it: · Any climber who neglects these simple precautions does so at their peril.· Ignore this warning at your peril.
to do something that involves unnecessary risks to stupidly do something that is almost certain to be dangerous or cause trouble: · Anyone who buys second-hand car tires is just asking for trouble.· You need to have a good knowledge of the industry before you buy stocks, or you're asking for trouble.
especially written if you invite trouble, criticism, attack etc, you do something that seems likely to cause you trouble or that encourages people to criticize you, attack you etc: · If you don't maintain your car regularly, you're just inviting trouble.· Not to provide aid will just invite further catastrophe in the area.
informal to do something that involves a risk of failure, because you have been successful when you have done it before: · I think I'd be pushing my luck if I asked him to babysit again on such short notice.· Twelve months later, the captain of Sea Rover pushed his luck once too often.
to do something that involves unnecessary risk, because you are too confident that there will be no problems: · It would be tempting fate to travel without a spare wheel.· By building houses in the steep canyons, Californians are tempting fate in the form of mudslides and fires.
to stupidly take a risk, especially by doing something or getting involved in a situation that is likely to have a very unpleasant result: · The government was warned it was playing with fire by arresting so-called "separatist" leaders.· Anyone who gets involved with a married man is playing with fire.
when someone shoots a gun an attempt to shoot someone or something: · His first shot missed. The second hit its target.fire a shot: · Police fired shots into the air and used water cannon to disperse the crowd.
when someone is shot at, and killed or injured: · Oswald was seen running away from the building just after the shooting.· There has been an alarming increase in the number of shootings on our streets.
the repeated shooting of a gun or guns: · At least 4 people were killed by gunfire when police stormed the building.a volley/hail of gunfire: · Joseph sprinted away to dodge the volley of gunfire.an exchange of gunfire (=when people shoot at each other): · A soldier was killed during an exchange of gunfire at the border station.
the repeated shooting of a gun, guns, or other weapons: · The ship was hit by fire from a German plane.· There was a sudden burst of machine gun fire.enemy fire: · We noticed that the enemy fire was now being directed at our part of the field.
several shots fired together from several weapons at the same time: · Before it was lowered into the ground, a volley of shots was fired over the General's coffin.fire a volley: · The soldiers fired a volley into the air as a warning to the crowd.
the continuous firing of a lot of large guns in order to attack an enemy town, city etc in a war: · The Germans began their bombardment of Paris in early 1870.· The devastating air bombardment of the last four weeks is only the latest of a series of assaults by foreign armies.
the continuous firing of a lot of guns, especially in a war: · US warplanes continued their barrage again this morning.· a barrage of machine-gun fire
the shooting at enemy soldiers, cities etc in a war, using large guns that can shoot from long distances: · Soon after dawn there was another round of heavy shelling in the eastern part of the city.
a lot of bullets that have been fired - used especially in written descriptions: · Wallace died in a hail of bullets in Los Angeles, the victim of a drive-by killing.
to fire a gun or other weapon to point a gun towards someone or something, and make bullets come out of it in order to kill or injure them: · If you move, I'll shoot.· Make sure you hold the gun steady and shoot straight.shoot at: · Armed robbers who shot at a security guard are still being hunted by police. · We used to shoot at empty bottles for practice.shoot to kill (=in order to kill someone): · The Defence Minister had ordered troops to shoot to kill if attacked.
to make bullets come out of a gun, or send an explosive object towards someone or something: · He regained his balance, took aim, and fired.fire into: · The police fired into the air to make the crowd break up.fire at: · As soon as we crossed the border, enemy troops started firing at us.fire a shot/bullet/round: · Kendrick fired three shots at the President's car.fire a gun/weapon/pistol etc: · Suddenly the car stopped, and the passenger got out and fired a Kalashnikov rifle at the police car.
to start shooting: · The colonel gave the order for the soldiers to open fire.open fire on: · Troops opened fire on a group of unarmed demonstrators in the city centre.
to shoot once at someone or something, hoping to hit them: · Agent Cooper stood back and took a shot at the lock on the door.· The police claim that someone took a shot at them, and they had to withdraw for their own safety.
to shoot at someone or something, especially from far away, without aiming carefully: · A bird flew out of the tree and Harry took a potshot at it.· Somebody was taking potshots at us from behind the bushes.
to shoot at enemy soldiers, cities etc in a war, using large guns that can shoot from long distances: · British warships began shelling German positions along the coast.· Border towns have been shelled by enemy aircraft for the past two months.
to shoot at a place using a lot of large guns all firing at the same time: · The allied forces bombarded the enemy trenches for weeks.bombard somebody/something with something: · Cromwell's men had been bombarding the fort with their artillery for several days.
to be shot at by someone · I heard a bullet whistle past my ear, and I realized we were being shot at.· The UN troops shouldn't be there just to be shot at -- they should be allowed to defend themselves.
if someone is under fire , they are being shot at, especially by several people during a battle: · The men's faces were white with fear -- none of them had ever been under fire before.under heavy fire (=being shot at repeatedly): · Although they were under heavy fire from all sides, they managed to get the wounded off the battlefield.come under fire (=start being shot at): · Troops sent to quell the fighting came under fire themselves.
if someone is caught in the crossfire , they are trapped between two groups of people who are shooting at each other, and may be shot accidentally themselves: · Two civilians were killed when they were caught in the crossfire between the police and the protestors.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meaning 1verbs
a full-scale flood alert Soldiers fired blanks into the crowd. The room was warm, with a fire blazing in the hearth. Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams We were in the middle of an exam when the fire alarm went off. Someone set off the fire alarm. I’ve never fired a gun in my life. the power to hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people) A cameraman was killed when his vehicle came under mortar fire. Effective crime prevention must be our main goal. a fire prevention officer shock-resistant rubber Congressman Saunders fired the opening salvo during a heated debate on capital punishment. I started a fire to warm the place up.
· The fire may have been started by a cigarette.
(=make something start burning)· A candle fell over, setting fire to the curtains.
(=it starts burning)· The boat caught fire and sank.
(also extinguish a fire formal) (=stop a fire burning)· Firemen successfully extinguished the fire.
(=try to make a fire stop burning)· Further attempts to fight the fire were abandoned.
· The fire was burning more strongly every minute.
(=it starts suddenly)· A fire broke out in the engine room.
(=it stops burning)· After several hours, the fire eventually went out.
(=it burns strongly for a long time over a large area)· Fires were raging in the forest near Magleby.
· The fire spread to the house next door.
· The school was badly damaged by fire.
phrases (=be burning)· The whole house was on fire within minutes.
· Firefighters took more than an hour to bring the fire under control.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + fire· A big fire was raging at the fuel depot.
(=a very large fire in a forest)· Greece has suffered many forest fires this year.
(=a very large fire in an area of grass)· There were frequent brush fires during the hot dry summers.
(=a fire that starts inside a house)· Faulty electrical wiring is being blamed for a house fire.
Meaning 2verbs· He found wood to make a fire.
· It was too damp to light a fire.
· Put another log on the fire.
· They cooked strips of meat over a wood fire.
(=a little smoke comes from a fire when it has almost gone out)· The fire was smouldering in the grate.
(=it burns less strongly)· The fire slowly died down.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + fire (=a fire in a room that is not inside a stove etc)· Sophie warmed herself by the open fire.
(=a fire that is burning strongly)· I sat by the roaring fire and dried off.
(=a fire that you make outside when you are camping)· In the evening we sat around the camp fire.
· There was a coal fire in the sitting room.
· She lit the gas fire and settled in front of the TV.
(=one that burns wood or coal)· There was a real fire blazing in the fireplace.
phrases (=pieces of wood, coal etc that have almost been completely burned)· He stared at the glowing embers of the fire.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· A fire alarm went off and the building had to be evacuated.
a full-scale flood alert Soldiers fired blanks into the crowd. The room was warm, with a fire blazing in the hearth.· Police fired rubber bullets to break up the crowd.
(=used to order soldiers to stop shooting)
Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams· Fire crews took more than three hours to bring the blaze under control.
(=caused by fire, storm, flood etc)· The campsite suffered extensive flood damage.
· The building was destroyed by fire in 2004.
· The country is still recovering from last year's devastating floods.
informal (=send it quickly, especially because you are angry about something)· I fired off an email to the hotel, saying how disgusted I was with their level of service.
(=make someone feel very enthusiastic)· At high school, Mr Jones really fired my enthusiasm for history.
(=be very enthusiastic and keen to do something)· She came back from the course fired up with enthusiasm.
(=a special door, used if there is an emergency or a fire)· Fire crews discovered that the club’s fire exit door had been locked.
We were in the middle of an exam when the fire alarm went off. Someone set off the fire alarm.· Forest fires have broken out across the region.
(=an object that burns gas to heat a room)· She turned on the gas fire.
I’ve never fired a gun in my life.· The unoccupied building was declared a fire hazard.
the power to hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people) (=discuss each other’s ideas and think of good new ones)· Our regular meetings are opportunities to fire ideas off each other.
(=make someone use their imagination)· The aim of the exhibition is to stimulate people's imagination.
(=the direction in which someone shoots, attacks, moves etc) I was directly in the animal’s line of attack.
I was directly in the animal’s line of attack. A cameraman was killed when his vehicle came under mortar fire. Effective crime prevention must be our main goal. a fire prevention officer shock-resistant rubber (=shoot back at someone)· One plane opened fire on the American aircraft, which immediately returned fire.
Congressman Saunders fired the opening salvo during a heated debate on capital punishment.· The passenger in the car fired three shots.
(also flames spread)· The fire had spread to a nearby shed.
I started a fire to warm the place up. (=try to stop it)· Fire crews tackling the blaze were hampered by exploding gas canisters.
(=shoot a gun or missile)· Police were told not to fire their weapons.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· It was cold in the bedroom and she had shivered and kneeling down he had plugged in a small electric fire.· I refer to people who, as I speak, are sitting at home, unable to put on their electric fires.· Finally, J. got tired of my everlasting complaints, took pity on me and made me a small electric fire.· One of his neighbours finds water dripping from the balcony above along her ceiling and out near her electric fire.· In front of the grate was a tall electric fire with artificial coals, a high curved back and a triple set of burners.· He connected a timeswitch to an electric fire.· Or an electric fire tipped into the bath one afternoon?
· Few details were released of the precise circumstances of the friendly fire incidents which caused the casualties.· Wednesday he re-introduced Kevin Pollak, injured and disfigured by friendly fire in the Gulf War.· But what really hurts is the friendly fire.· One step forward.New hope for truth about the victims of friendly fire.
· Never stand over an open fire as Victorian fathers used to do.· Here, they sleep in bedrolls or in canvas tents, and eat hardtack and sip coffee heated over an open fire.· Any kind of open fire needs a considerable volume of fuel to keep it alight.· Clothes are hung from nails, and cooking is done over an open fire.· Always put out an open fire before going to bed.· Purists believe that roasting means exposing food to the direct heat of a hot, open fire.· Put guards on all open fires.· Do not put fluffy rugs in front of open fires, where they are in the direct line of sparks.
NOUN· Yet that is what fire chiefs say we should be doing if we want to make our homes safer.· Brown swore in his new fire chief, Bob Demmons, during a ceremony Tuesday morning.· There's no extra cash to pay for the search; fire chiefs are just hoping their alarm call is answered.· After six months in office, Brown has named minorities to such high-profile spots as police and fire chiefs.· The bowling alley fire in a neighboring town that killed five firemen when my father was deputy fire chief.· Higuchi, a deputy fire chief for Los Angeles County since January 1994.
· Raffles A lounge cellar bar with a relaxed atmosphere and a real coal fire.· A coal fire made the room stuffy, the way he liked it.· The office was a 2-bedroomed bungalow with a coal fire in the grate!· The coal fire burned steadily away in the grate.· It had central heating, a rarity in the experience of people like us who depended on open coal fires.· Check the ventilation in each room, particularly if there are gas or coal fires.· My neighbour's house is the only one in a block of seven with a coal fire.· Other times we burn it either on the coal fire or garden bonfire and that produces ash and gases.
· There is a great deal of information available about fire damage to property, but little on diseases related to industrial work.· Most of the fire damage was confined to the restaurant and several Fox offices.· In Wagon Mound the kind of damage that needed to be foreseeable was fire damage.· Explosions that occur at high enough altitudes will lay down severe shock and fire damage without the fireball ever contacting the ground.· It sustained a lot of fire damage when the labs went up.· Recent incidents include £2 million fire damage to Bellahouston Academy in Glasgow.· In 1917 Mawson was commissioned to replan Salonika, following extensive fire damage.· This was as near as they dared to approach to avoid the risk of fire damage to the vehicles.
· Think of the might of a forest fire or the burning heat of the sun.· After a forest fire, it is always the first to spring forth.· On one occasion a great forest fire raged through the area of Telegraph Station 30.· However small the sparks at Azusa Street were, within a few decades, pentecostalism had become a full-fledged forest fire.· Two were destroyed in forest fire work while the other three are firmly entrenched in museums.· In a forest fire, you usually find areas among the trees that have some calming influence on it.· The occurrence of scrub and forest fires provides another mechanism whereby rocks can be subjected to significant thermal expansion and contraction.· It would start at a single mine, and then go like a forest fire from state to state.
· Check whether an off-peak electric storage heater or a gas fire might be better choice.· The Echo investigation highlighted a series of deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty gas fires.· It had minimal busted furniture, yellow walls and a gas fire.· Then out for a newspaper and some rolls, and he was sitting in front of the gas fire with a cup of coffee.· She was beside the gas fire, just staring.· She made herself a high tea, put the gas fire on full blast and sat with a tray in front of the television.· He also lit the portable gas fire.· She perched on the edge of the sofa, gazing into the mock flames from the gas fire.
· Mrs R. was a heavy smoker, and this was a fire hazard.· The build-up of ice on roofs is also creating leaks that threaten internal wiring and pose a fire hazard.· The road fizzled out at a gate plastered with fire hazard warnings, leading on to the moor itself.· She knew all about fire hazards.· Each component was hot dip galvanized prior to being brought on site and welding was avoided to eliminate potential fire hazards.· A little broom has been planted, but not much because it is a fire hazard.· The resulting rank heather is a severe fire hazard in areas attracting tourists.· The restaurant clogs quickly into a cosy fire hazard.
· He became a hero when he rescued a number of people from a blazing house fire.· Now Jack sees a way to escape from it all by faking his death in a house fire.· The Safety Centre features full size mock-ups of nearly every danger a child could face including house fires and high speed trains.· John Grant had always believed he was rescued as a baby from a house fire in which both his parents had died.· An elderly man's died and a woman is critically ill in hospital after a house fire in Worcestershire.· Read in studio Police investigating the death of a man in a house fire have now ruled out murder.· Read in studio A faulty electricity meter is being blamed for starting a house fire which left six people in hospital.· It is indeed true of the given description of the causal circumstance for the house fire that it could be much improved.
· An old pub with beamed ceilings, smoke-blackened, and a log fire crackling and spitting inside a deep alcove.· The beamed lounge with its log fire is elegantly furnished in a country-house style.· Comfort, quality and log fires.· In the sitting room next door a log fire burned.· We sat in chairs before a great log fire.· It has been heated outside the room by a log fire under a petrol drum.· The artificial log fire was burning brightly.· They sat round a huge log fire, the flickering flames casting long shadows against the far wall.
· Their car came under mortar fire and they had to cross five military checkpoints.· Each time we came in there was mortar fire and plumes of smoke.· The mortar fire went on relentlessly, and showers of earth went up.· Soldiers had parachuted across, but mortar fire had seen them off.· I gave no thought to this until heavy mortar fire began to hit extremely close.· Our firebase had been taking mortar fire from a wooded area some distance away.· Around dawn they were hit with mortar fire.
VERB· How to build a fire First make sure you've got enough dry timber of varying sizes to keep your fire going.· You ever seen a face built out of fire, underwater?· Here I built a small fire, and putting my back to the rock lit a cigarette.· We built a great fire in the outdoor fireplace and roasted the steak, drank the beer, and talked.· At Kaliro the hunters would build a small fire on a hill to show they were safe.· She was built like a fire hydrant.· Whilst the Technology was being built there was a fire at the school which meant an extra classroom had to be built.· That evening before dinner, he built a fire.
· You can burn in the fires of the damned for all I care.· Tipis take on color from the wood you burn in your fire.· One lorry was burnt out and a fire officers car was also damaged.· No burning fires or heavenly choirs.· I can hear the sounds of the wood burning in the fire, and the big clock on the stairs.· It is the fire of race, and it is still burning.· Only his eyes seemed alive, burning with a dark fire as he stared at her.· The berries are then warmed over slowly burning peat fires until they sprout, a development that converts their starches into sugars.
· A fault in the drying cycle means that the machine overheats and can catch fire.· He caught fire and suffered fatal 80 percent burns.· Richard Lugar or commentator Pat Buchanan have yet to catch fire.· Sydney withdrew out of range and bombarded Emden with shells from her 6in guns until she caught fire.· Worse, he was caught in the cross fire of local conflicts.· We know that the next falling star is almost certain to get too close to the sun, and catch fire!· The bond market had caught fire, and experienced salesmen such as himself were all at once much in demand.
· It makes it clear that the fire caused the accident but it doesn't give any explanation of what caused the fire.· The impact had mangled the plane but not caused a fire.· It's known the fire in the tail caused the accident ... but not what caused the fire.· After the fire investigators tested a similar oxygen canister to determine whether it could generate enough heat to cause the fire.· This amount will not apply if the damage is caused by fire.· Item: In Southern California, an inattentive tenant cooking a meal caused a grease fire.· However, this reduces efficiency, wastes heat and causes a fire danger.· We do not know what caused the fire and it is important for us to determine why.
· Jane wanders through the disaster, seeing that the house was destroyed by fire some months before.· The Tuileries were destroyed by fire and it was rumoured that the Louvre had been burned down as well.· The archives of the town in which I was born were destroyed by fire during the war.· Only part of this extensive cloth and flock mill remains, much having been destroyed by fire.· For, as it turned out, most of the copies of the pamphlet were destroyed in the fire that killed Dark.· The original store and its entire stock of rare books, letters and autographs, was destroyed by fire in 1980.
· We told them to get out.Three deny they left twins to die in barn fire.· Also patron of architects, builders, dying, fire prevention, founders, miners, and stonemasons.· Ferrets die: Two ferrets died when fire swept through a garden shed in Ilkley Grove, Hartlepool.· What about the father who arrived home to find his four children had died in a fire?· Four times more likely to die from fires.· In 1985 more than 50 people died in a fire at Bradford City Football Club.· Eighty-four persons, including 25 children, died in the fire.
· Five additional members were added to an existing committee entrusted with monitoring, fighting and controlling oil fires.· Sitting there, I imagined Durrell at his computer, clicking out his program for fighting fire with fire.· Lara Bagby thought her husband was still fighting the fire when she got a call from a relative.· Further attempts to fight the fire were abandoned as thick acrid smoke filled the department.· And the only way to get overtime is fighting fires.· In the confusion of fighting the fire, the dinghy had gone overboard and was drifting away, trapping the crew.· They had to wait a few minutes more for the arrival of a tanker truck with water to fight the fire.
· Lydia shivered and knelt to light the fire.· As soon as I get up, I light the fire and put on a stainless steel pot for hot water.· Very useful for lighting fires, wrapping fish, that sort of thing.· But if it is defense that lights your fire, the Sooners always had the spark.· They had come in the night and lit a fire under the stage.· She ordered Gretel to make some bread and light the fire.· Emily sat in her coat while Hudson lit the fire.· After dark, they stopped and lit a small cooking fire, talking and laughing noisily.
· The Royal Engineers did not return fire and were let through.· Madame Olenska rose, wound it up and returned to the fire, but without resuming her seat.· He was dropped too early - but instead of sulking he has returned with his old fire.· Our tanks and tracks kept going a little bit and stopped to return fire immediately.· The troops returned fire and then retreated.· By this time, of course, the Federals were returning the fire.· Petion returned fire, and the grenade thrower pitched into the water with another grenade at the ready.· Finding it was determined not to return the fire until after breakfast, I remained in bed.
· The intruders, thought to be youngsters, set the kitchen on fire and flooded the bathroom.· He almost burned it down. Set a fire in the detention room.· Actually, I set fire to my bed the other night.· Got home and they had set fire to my crop.· One of the men had set fire to the kitchen curtains.· Manuel Perez's brother left after his house was set on fire.· But if Rhodes hasn't set the world on fire with his batting, he certainly has with his fielding.· Did he set the school on fire?
· Open fires should always have the chimney regularly swept, otherwise the build up of soot can start a chimney fire.· Robles has confessed to starting seven fires since Aug. 1, authorities said.· He hands me a billy and suggests I get some snow for water and a few twigs to start the fire.· They found several oil bottles in his car of the same brand as one found at the starting point of the fire.· They went indoors to find Donald splitting wood to start the fire.· Finally, we started re-turning fire, and at that point, the mech unit finally got there.· The wood contains sufficient natural oil to start the fire well.· It started a fire which spread to the river bank.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► be shooting/firing blanks► the fat is in the fire► out of the frying pan and into the fire► hold (your) fire► get on/along like a house on fire► have several irons in the fire► be in the firing line/in the line of fire► poke the fire► quench a fire/flames► set the Thames on fire
1flames that destroy things [countable, uncountable] uncontrolled flames, light, and heat that destroy and damage things: - Before long the neighboring houses were on fire too.
- Large areas of the forest are reported to be on fire.
- He stabbed his chips like a killer and poured beer down his throat as though his guts were on fire.
- Here, some bright spark thought Windsor Castle was on fire and called the fire brigade!
- If her cheeks had been hot when he arrived, they were on fire now.
- It was impossible that these two whose hearts were on fire should be kept apart.
- Miguel opened his door and lunged as though his head were on fire.
- The Steam Laundry was on fire.
- They make the skin crawl like it is on fire, even as it is bathed in sweat.
- They went willingly enough, but their hearts were on fire with jealousy.
- They had come in the night and lit a fire under the stage.
- I would have gone through fire for Peter Docherty.
- At 19 though, he had lost his fire and brimstone and was withdrawn and melancholy.
- But Geneva rules will apply, except in so far as fire and brimstone will be permitted on a strictly controlled basis.
- Reggie White delivered 10 minutes of fire and brimstone, condemning Williams as a devil in a blue-and-white uniform.
- She responded with some of her fire and brimstone stuff.
- Yet for all his proverbial fire and brimstone, my father was not a violent man.
- Campbell came under fire for his handling of the negotiations.
- Grain-based cereal prices already have come under fire from Capitol Hill, with a report in mid-March by Reps.
- He added that to be accurate, the aircraft would have to risk coming under fire.
- He, in turn, came under fire from conservative Republicans in his home state.
- Its stance has come under fire from the president of the private sector's wood alliance, Corma.
- Peacekeeping forces came under fire in isolated incidents.
- Sir Derek came under fire from several shareholders.
- The service came under fire as scores of roads across the province were clogged with snow, snarling traffic and causing chaos.
- When crop-dusters come under fire, it is up to DynCorp helicopter pilots to provide support.
- It stung the back of her throat and fired in her belly.
- Three years later, he returned; heavier, slower, but with a new kind of fire in his belly.
- You have got the fire in your belly that will make an excellent detective novel.
- It only added fuel to the fire.
- Once the process is under way, empire-building adds fuel to the fire, and more fat to the bureaucracy.
- A ball of fire he might be, but he'd made one big mistake!
- Douglas was a ball of fire all season.
- One witness described seeing a plume of moke and a ball of fire and then seeing a body on the road.
- An as-yet-unproven system called J-STARS, getting its baptism of fire in the Gulf, illustrates the point.
- Beige popsters take a vicarious pride in the slow baptism of fire that their chosen genre and its protagonists underwent.
- Diana admits that she wasn't easy to handle during that baptism of fire.
- It had been a baptism by fire, but she had come through.
- It is almost impossible to see where events will lead but you are going through a baptism of fire.
- My baptism of fire had been with Leon Brittan who was Chief Secretary until the 1983 general election.
- This was our baptism of fire and we learned many lessons.
- Opposed, he could breathe fire; contradicted or challenged, he could put up his fists and fight.
- Ready to roar.Cricket's young dragons learning to breathe fire.
- Some of us need bosses and editors breathing fire down our necks.
- What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to govern?
- For some reason the charcoal isn't catching.
- Investigators said that a lit cigarette caused the curtains to catch fire.
- The car turned over, but luckily it didn't catch fire.
- There was an explosion, and the whole garage caught on fire.
- Two farm workers died when a barn caught fire yesterday.
- And the rivers of water were thick as sludge, slick enough with oil to catch fire.
- Each team started slowly offensively before catching fire in the final seven minutes of the opening period.
- Finally, the bird, while searching for the mouse, accidentally knocked over the woodpile, which caught fire.
- In the midst of this seemingly successful gesture, the hotel catches fire.
- Nine times out of ten it will catch fire in your hands.
- Sydney withdrew out of range and bombarded Emden with shells from her 6in guns until she caught fire.
- The whole thing could catch fire all over the front pages Crocus List and all.
- We know that the next falling star is almost certain to get too close to the sun, and catch fire!
- At a deeper level, however, the concept of the mentally abnormal female offender has come under scrutiny.
- He added that to be accurate, the aircraft would have to risk coming under fire.
- He said the company came under scrutiny along with other insurers after allegations were first made against Metropolitan Life in 1993.
- In addition to facing the ire of frustrated riders, Muni has also come under fire recently from federal safety officials.
- Patrick is generally regarded as having been an aggressive enforcer of civil-rights laws and often came under fire from conservatives.
- Police came under attack from bottles, bricks and plastic crates.
- Sir Derek came under fire from several shareholders.
- Their vehicle came under fire but was not hit.
- The latter is a book in which the author is firing on all cylinders.
- This company is firing on all cylinders.
- Your Reticular Activating System is firing on all cylinders, your cortex is turning somersaults.
- After selecting a field he carried out his emergency drills and shut down the engine.
- And practise a family fire drill.
- Immediately fire drills were followed and the building vacated.
- It was sabotaged by an unforeseen fire drill.
- So back to the fire drill.
- The advantage of fire drill thinking is that it reminds you that the worst really can happen.
- The local primary school nearest the naval base, Barne Barton, has an annual nuclear emergency drill.
- David Cottis, London At what point does breeze fan a flame rather than douse it?
- Harry blundering into the field of fire.
- The best place for most artillery is on a hill commanding a wide field of fire with long clear lines of sight.
- The first is that it preserves a clear field of fire for my missile troops.
- We had a good field of fire all round in case the enemy came out of the sunken road or over the hedge.
- We had triple concertina wire set up, claymores, and tripwires, and we even cut some fields of fire.
- Sitting there, I imagined Durrell at his computer, clicking out his program for fighting fire with fire.
- The official pronouncement was that they intended to fight fire with fire.
- And some sources believe the proposal for a £75m prison at Fazakerley is one option now in the firing line.
- Foreign tourists are also in the firing line.
- He put his old enemy, corporate power, in the firing line.
- Its application does put its exponents in the firing line of critical appraisal.
- Read in studio A family is living in the firing line of over-enthusiastic golfers because of a planning mistake.
- The Law Society too was in the firing line.
- Unveiled Benefits are also thought to be in the firing line.
- We're public figures and so therefore we know we're in the firing line.
- A couple of years ago these lanes were far from peaceful when a flash flood swept through the area.
- He believes Ruess probably died in a flash flood or fell off a cliff.
- In the event of a flash flood, remember that you should immediately seek higher ground.
- Like the desert after a flash flood, Freshers' Fair is decorated by societies which bloom for just a day.
- Summer flash floods achieve little beyond destroying crops.
- The report warns of extreme events such as thunderstorms causing flash floods and intense meteorological depressions.
- Urgent talks after flash flood causes chaos.
- But what really hurts is the friendly fire.
- Few details were released of the precise circumstances of the friendly fire incidents which caused the casualties.
- One step forward.New hope for truth about the victims of friendly fire.
- Wednesday he re-introduced Kevin Pollak, injured and disfigured by friendly fire in the Gulf War.
- But while their charges hang fire for three or four years, the company has made its joint.
- The case is hanging fire for the moment, pending some changes in the paperwork filed so far.
- Clothes are hung from nails, and cooking is done over an open fire.
- He is charged with ordering his subordinates to open fire on Tangi-Chu.
- Never stand over an open fire as Victorian fathers used to do.
- No wonder they had opened fire.
- Rebels hiding in jungle outside the village opened fire, killing one policeman.
- The battery... ascends the hill towards the Henry house and opens fire at close range.
- Then he opened fire at point-blank range, first at Cha, then at Park, severely wounding them both.
- There are two comfortable lounges with open fires, one with a large collection of books for guests to read.
- Dating the boss's daughter is playing with fire.
- Failure to stick to the safety rules is simply playing with fire.
- These men are criminals. If you get involved with them, you'll be playing with fire.
- Charity stunt team warned ... you're playing with fire.
- Manchester United continue to play with fire, losing 2-1 against Anderlecht.
- Roy Alon who appeared in many of the James Bond films said the team were playing with fire.
- She was playing with fire, in Lydia's opinion.
- Sir Hugo advises Deronda not to play with fire.
- So, your employer is playing with fire.
- The mask made him seem menacing, and she suddenly had the sensation that with Lucenzo she was playing with fire.
- With Emma he had played with fire and narrowly escaped burning.
- A roaring fire was in the grate and the room was pleasantly warm.
- He was acutely aware of everything that had gone on in front of the then roaring fire.
- I built a roaring fire in the stove and baked some potatoes.
- The aristocrats would be the kindling for a roaring fire fueled by the fats of social exploitation.
- And if you believe there's no smoke without fire, Sean Young must be a towering inferno.
- But there's no smoke without fire.
- A streak of lightning split the sky.
- Sometimes there is hope, a streak of light, a blur on a piece of film.
- The three women were wreaking havoc with their guns that fired streaks of light.
- There was another streak of lightning overhead.
- A wall of water a thousand feet high smashed down on Nagarythe.
- A few minutes later, a wall of water crashed over the lip of the Falls and Niagara was in business again.
- And they drove off into another amazing wall of water.
- But there was no wall of water crashing through the canyon.
- I watched as the roof of the house seemed to rest on the four walls of fire.
- Spray, driven by the wall of water, struck his face.
- Surrounding buildings had to be protected by a wall of water to stop them being engulfed by the flames.
- They had been through the wall of fire together.
- And now we have Sliver which was the subject of much wrangling and hasn't exactly set the world on fire.
- But if Rhodes hasn't set the world on fire with his batting, he certainly has with his fielding.
- Either way, the speed and acceleration is not going to set the world on fire.
- It was a lovely accomplishment, of course, but nothing to set the world on fire with.
- None of the three papers was going to set the world on fire.
- The sonorities glow, and the whole thing is user-friendly without setting the world on fire.
The warehouse was completely destroyed by fire. Thirty people died in a fire in downtown Chicago. Police think that the fire was started deliberately. Rioters set fire to a whole row of stores (=made them start burning).on fire (=burning) Within minutes, the entire building was on fire.GRAMMAR Don’t say: in fire2flames for heating/cooking etc [countable] burning material used to heat a room, cook food etc, or get rid of things you do not want: You put up the tent and I’ll make a fire. Can you help me light the fire? The fire has almost gone out (=stopped burning). They all sat around the camp fire, singing songs. The fire was still smouldering in the grate (=there was a little smoke and it had almost stopped burning).by the fire/in front of the fire Come and sit by the fire. They dried their clothes in front of an open fire.3heating equipment [countable] British English a machine that produces heat to warm a room, using gas or electricity as power: a gas fire an electric fireturn the fire on/off Turn on the fire, I’m cold.turn the fire up/down (=make it hotter or colder)4shooting [uncountable] shots fired from a gun, especially many guns at the same time: Troops opened fire on (=started shooting at) the demonstrators. These women did vital work, often under enemy fire. The rebels agreed to hold their fire (=not shoot). → be in the line of fire at line1(35)5be attacked be/come under fire a)to be severely criticized for something you have done – used in news reports: Rail chiefs came under fire after raising train fares. b)to be shot atfire from Our patrol came under fire from rooftop gunmen.6emotion [uncountable] a very strong emotion that makes you want to think about nothing elsefire of the fire of religious fanaticism7fire in your belly a strong desire to achieve something: Ali returned to boxing with a new fire in his belly.8sick/injured be on fire literary a part of your body that is on fire feels very painful9light a fire under somebody American English spoken to do something that makes someone who is being lazy start doing their work10go through fire (and water) (for somebody) old-fashioned to do something very difficult and dangerous for someone11fire and brimstone a phrase describing Hell, used by some religious people → ceasefire, → add fuel to the fire/flames at add(9), → fight fire with fire at fight1(18), → get on like a house on fire at house1(13), → hang fire at hang1(12), → play with fire at play1(26), → set the world on fire at world1(22), → there’s no smoke without fire at smoke1(5)COLLOCATIONS– Meaning 1verbsstart a fire· The fire may have been started by a cigarette.set fire to something/set something on fire (=make something start burning)· A candle fell over, setting fire to the curtains.something catches fire (=it starts burning)· The boat caught fire and sank.put out a fire (also extinguish a fire formal) (=stop a fire burning)· Firemen successfully extinguished the fire.fight a fire (=try to make a fire stop burning)· Further attempts to fight the fire were abandoned.a fire burns· The fire was burning more strongly every minute.a fire breaks out (=it starts suddenly)· A fire broke out in the engine room.a fire goes out (=it stops burning)· After several hours, the fire eventually went out.a fire rages/blazes (=it burns strongly for a long time over a large area)· Fires were raging in the forest near Magleby.a fire spreads· The fire spread to the house next door.something is damaged/destroyed by fire· The school was badly damaged by fire.phrasesbe on fire (=be burning)· The whole house was on fire within minutes.bring a fire under control· Firefighters took more than an hour to bring the fire under control.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + firea big/major fire· A big fire was raging at the fuel depot.a forest fire (=a very large fire in a forest)· Greece has suffered many forest fires this year.a brush fire (=a very large fire in an area of grass)· There were frequent brush fires during the hot dry summers.a house fire (=a fire that starts inside a house)· Faulty electrical wiring is being blamed for a house fire.COLLOCATIONS– Meaning 2verbsmake/build a fire· He found wood to make a fire.start/light a fire· It was too damp to light a fire.put something on the fire· Put another log on the fire.cook something over a fire· They cooked strips of meat over a wood fire.a fire smoulders (=a little smoke comes from a fire when it has almost gone out)· The fire was smouldering in the grate.a fire dies down (=it burns less strongly)· The fire slowly died down.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + firean open fire (=a fire in a room that is not inside a stove etc)· Sophie warmed herself by the open fire.a roaring fire (=a fire that is burning strongly)· I sat by the roaring fire and dried off.a camp fire (=a fire that you make outside when you are camping)· In the evening we sat around the camp fire.a coal/wood/log fire· There was a coal fire in the sitting room.a gas fire· She lit the gas fire and settled in front of the TV.a real fire (=one that burns wood or coal)· There was a real fire blazing in the fireplace.phrasesthe embers of a fire (=pieces of wood, coal etc that have almost been completely burned)· He stared at the glowing embers of the fire.THESAURUSfire flames that burn in an uncontrolled way and destroy or damage things: · In April, a fire at the school destroyed the science block.· a forest fireflames the bright parts of a fire that you see burning in the air: · The flames from the burning building were lighting up the night sky.blaze written a large and dangerous fire – used especially in news reports: · Firemen fought to keep the blaze under control.inferno written an extremely large and dangerous fire which is out of control – used especially in news reports: · The entire building was on fire and hundreds of people were trapped in the inferno.conflagration /ˌkɒnfləˈɡreɪʃən $ ˌkɑːn-/ formal a very large fire that destroys a lot of buildings, trees etc: · The conflagration spread rapidly through the old town.fire1 nounfire2 verb
firefire2 ●●○ S3 W3 verb VERB TABLE
fire
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | fire |
| he, she, it | fires | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | fired |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have fired |
| he, she, it | has fired | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had fired |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will fire |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have fired |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am firing |
| he, she, it | is firing | |
| you, we, they | are firing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was firing |
| you, we, they | were firing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been firing |
| he, she, it | has been firing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been firing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be firing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been firing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- As soon as we crossed the border, enemy troops started firing at us.
- He regained his balance, took aim, and fired.
- He was just impossible to work with, and in the end they fired him.
- Kendrick fired three shots at the President's car.
- Several shots were fired, but no one was injured.
- She was fired for serious professional misconduct.
- Suddenly the car stopped, and the passenger got out and fired a Kalashnikov rifle at the police car.
- The company fired a top executive for his role in improper financial dealings.
- The police fired into the air to make the crowd break up.
- When Max was fired from his job the whole family had to pack up and leave town.
- You're fired!
- As soldiers jumped out of the lorries, firing all around, helicopter gunships appeared overhead.
- Chapa was fired at the same time as Lozano.
- During the night the accused fired his air gun out of the window of his first-floor flat.
- He's getting ready to fire me, she thought.
- No shot is fired and no further shots may be fired that game - the gun is now useless.
- Not only can he be fired again, but probably he will be fired again.
- The system has previously undergone six months of preliminary tests in the same Redwood City neighborhood, with officers firing blanks.
- The two hapless groups of men now mostly hid, endured, and awaited their opportunity to fire back or escape.
THESAURUS
(also dismiss formal) to make someone leave their job, especially because they have done something wrong: · He was fired for surfing the Internet during work time.· Harris was caught stealing, and was dismissed from his job.
British English informal to make someone leave their job, especially because they are not good at it, or because they have done something wrong: · Bates was sacked from his job after the team failed to win any games.· His boss gave him the sack for taking too much time off work.
to make a lot of workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages: · 3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.
British English to make someone leave their job because they are no longer needed: · 5 staff will be made redundant at the end of this month.
to make someone leave their job, Used by employers to avoid saying directly that they are getting rid of people: · We’ve had to let two members of staff go.
to make someone leave their job in the army, air force etc: · Grant had been discharged from the navy for threatening an officer.
to make someone leave their job in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave: · He had been eased out of office in an attempt to prevent a political crisis.
formal to make someone leave their job because they have done something wrong – used especially to avoid saying this directly, and also when the job is a powerful one: · The colonel and two other senior officers were relieved of their posts.
Longman Language Activatora fire that damages a building, forest, etc · Eleven people died in a fire in Chicago early Monday.fire spreads (=gets bigger or worse) · The fire quickly spread throughout the building.fire breaks out (=starts suddenly) · Investigators say the fire probably broke out in the hotel kitchen.start a fire · The fire was started by an electrical fault.forest fire · A forest fire had been raging in the south and the sky in that direction had a deep red glow.
a large and dangerous fire that burns very strongly: · Firefighters struggled to control the blaze.· The church was completely destroyed in the blaze.
a very large, very hot, and very dangerous fire, especially in an enclosed space such as a building - used especially in newspapers and in literature: · Eleven homes and several businesses were destroyed in the inferno.· He rushed back into the inferno to rescue his two-year-old sister, Cora, who had been trapped inside.
the bright parts of a fire that you see burning in the air: · I saw flames coming from the engine.· She frantically sprayed the flames with a fire extinguisher.
a fire for making you warm, for cooking, or for burning things a small, controlled fire that you make in order to provide heat or to cook food: · Could you bring in some wood for the fire?· In the evenings the whole family would gather around the fire.log/coal etc fire (=a fire that burns logs, coal etc): · There's nothing more comforting than a blazing log fire.light a fire (=make it burn): · The old man lit a fire in the stove of the front room.
a large outdoor fire used for burning dead leaves, wood, or things you do not need, or used for celebrations: light a bonfire (=make it burn): · The bonfire will be lit at 7.00 p.m., with fireworks starting just 15 minutes later.build/make a bonfire: · They piled up scrap wood, boxes and other junk and made a big bonfire.
a fire made outdoors for people who are camping, used for keeping them warm and cooking: · Never leave a campfire unattended.sit around the campfire: · That night we sat around the campfire telling stories.
the heat and light produced by something that is burning · Most animals are afraid of fire.· When did humans first learn to use fire?
the hot bright area of burning gas which is produced by something that is burning: · Natural gas burns with a bright blue flame.· You can sterilize a needle by holding it in a flame.· The candle flame flickered and then went out.
to make or start a fire · He made a fire out of old rags and newspapers.· There isn't enough wood here to build a fire.
to deliberately make a fire start burning, especially in order to provide heat or to cook something: · It was her job to light a fire every morning before the family got up.· In such a strong wind it was almost impossible to light a fire.
to make a fire start burning, especially in a place where it might cause damage: · The kids accidentally started a fire in the garage.· The fire was started by a carelessly tossed cigarette.
the crime of deliberately starting a fire in order to damage a building or property: · Police are treating the fire as a case of arson.· Brooks was arrested for arson in North Carolina.
to stop a fire from burning to make a fire stop burning: put out the fire/blaze/flames: · It took firefighters four hours to put out the blaze.put something out: · She threw sand on the fire to put it out.
formal to stop a fire burning: · He managed to extinguish the flames with his coat.· It took several hours to extinguish the blaze.
to make a flame or fire stop burning by blowing on it: blow out a candle/match/fire etc: · He blew out the candle and went to sleep.blow something out: · We tried to light a fire but the wind kept blowing it out.
to cover a fire with something in order to stop it from burning: · If the victim's clothes are burning, use a blanket to smother the flames.
people whose job is to stop fires someone whose job is to stop fires burning: · Firefighters rescued the children, who were trapped in an upstairs room.· It took firefighters over two hours to put out the fire.· Over 300 firefighters were killed when the North Tower collapsed.
especially British a man whose job is to stop fires burning: · Two firemen died in a blaze.· I wanted to be a fireman when I was a child.
British /the fire department American the organization in a town or area that works to prevent fires and to stop fires burning: · The fire brigade arrived promptly and the fire was quickly brought under control.· Spending on police and fire departments accounts for about 55 percent of the city's general fund.
to ask someone a lot of questions to ask someone a lot of questions, in order to get information or find out what they think: · We all wondered where Sylvia got the money, but no one dared question her.question somebody about something: · Liz was very well informed and questioned me about the political situation in Africa.question somebody closely (=carefully, asking a lot of difficult questions): · The interviewer questioned Miss Jarvis closely about her computer experience.
to ask someone a lot of questions very quickly in order to confuse them or make them admit to something: · The lawyer fired questions at me so quickly I didn't have time to think.· The teacher kept shooting questions at the frightened girls until they confessed everything.
also give somebody a grilling British to ask someone a lot of difficult questions in order to make them explain their actions, plans, or opinions: · I stood in the hall and listened as the interviewers grilled the next candidate.· Hilda's teacher gave her a real grilling about why she'd missed so many classes.grill somebody about/on something: · Maxine started grilling me on why I'd been spending so much time alone.
informal to ask someone a lot of difficult questions in order to make them explain their actions, plans, or opinions: · I was just out with friends - you don't have to give me the third degree.· Whenever one of my boyfriends came to the house, Dad would give them the third degree.
to ask someone a lot of questions about a particular subject or event in order to get as much information as possible: pump somebody for information/details: · Viktor sat with Vassily and me and pumped me for information about hockey teams.· He wants to pump Jody for the details of some job her company is advertising.
to ask someone a lot of questions, especially because you want to find out what they have been doing, and often in a way that annoys them: · When Stan eventually came home from the party, his wife quizzed him for hours.quiz somebody about/on something: · My parents never stop quizzing me about where I go at night.· Reporters quizzed the President on tax policy and Central America.
to ask someone for information about something because you think they know more about it than you: · You know all about tax law - can I pick your brains for a minute?· The workshop is designed so that new managers can pick the brains of managers with more experience.
to make someone feel enthusiastic about something to make someone feel enthusiastic about something and make them feel that it is worth doing: · When I actually visited the university, it inspired me and made me want to go there.inspire somebody to do something: · The lecture today really inspired me to read more poetry.
to make someone feel enthusiastic about their work or their studies, and work hard: · It's often more difficult to motivate boys than girls.· Every good teacher knows that criticism does not motivate learners.motivate somebody to do something: · Only one third of workers said their supervisors know what motivates them to do their best work.
British also fire somebody up especially American to make someone extremely enthusiastic so that they want to work very hard to achieve something: · His speech fired the audience with enthusiasm.be (all) fired up: · Brown was fired up about being back on the field again after his injury.· By the end of the meeting the sales team were all fired up and eager to start selling.
a rousing song, speech etc makes people feel excited and eager to do something: · His rousing speeches soon created a massive following.· Rousing organ music was coming from the church.
when someone is forced to leave their job · After she lost her job, she got more and more depressed and started drinking heavily.· Many people won't complain about pay and conditions because they're terrified of losing their jobs.
also dismiss formal to make someone leave their job, especially because they have done something wrong: · He was just impossible to work with, and in the end they fired him.· Harris was caught stealing, and was dismissed immediately.· You're fired!fire/dismiss somebody for something: · She was fired for serious professional misconduct.fire from: · When Max was fired from his job the whole family had to pack up and leave town.· A New York art teacher who refused to take part in the daily flag ceremony was dismissed from her post.
British to make someone leave their job, for example, because they are not good enough at it, they are no longer needed, or they have done something wrong: · We can't really give him the sack just because he's unpopular.sack somebody for something: · He was sacked for being drunk in the office.get the sack (=be sacked): · He had the good luck to work in an old family firm when nobody ever got the sack.
to make workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages: lay off somebody/lay somebody off: · 3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.
British to make someone leave their job, and usually pay them some money to do so, because they are no longer needed: · At least 2,000 computer programmers have been made redundant in the past year.· We lost our home when my husband was made redundant five years ago.
British a situation in which someone has to leave their job, and is usually paid some money to do so, because they are no longer needed by their company: · These redundancies are necessary for the company to be able to survive.· The board are planning a restructuring which could mean hundreds of redundancies.voluntary redundancy (=when a company asks workers if they want to leave their jobs, and offers to pay them money to do so): · We hope to achieve staffing cuts through voluntary redundancy and a freeze on recruitment.
to make someone leave a job or organization temporarily, either as a punishment for doing something wrong, or while the organization tries to find out whether they have done something wrong or not: · Two senior officials have been suspended on full pay pending a second internal inquiry.suspend from: · The Police Department has suspended six officers from duty while they investigate claims of fraud and corruption.
to tell someone that they must leave their job, either immediately or in a week, a month etc: · The company are planning to close down, and we've all been given two weeks' notice.· In the course of restructuring, over half the workforce were given their notice.
if someone with an important official job is relieved of their duties or post , their job is taken away from them, especially for a short time because people think they have done something very bad and this is being checked: · The Chief Inspector has been relieved of his duties pending another investigation by fellow officers.· The authorities have decided to relieve the professor of his post at the university until further notice, after complaints were made by one of his female students.
to fire a gun or other weapon to point a gun towards someone or something, and make bullets come out of it in order to kill or injure them: · If you move, I'll shoot.· Make sure you hold the gun steady and shoot straight.shoot at: · Armed robbers who shot at a security guard are still being hunted by police. · We used to shoot at empty bottles for practice.shoot to kill (=in order to kill someone): · The Defence Minister had ordered troops to shoot to kill if attacked.
to make bullets come out of a gun, or send an explosive object towards someone or something: · He regained his balance, took aim, and fired.fire into: · The police fired into the air to make the crowd break up.fire at: · As soon as we crossed the border, enemy troops started firing at us.fire a shot/bullet/round: · Kendrick fired three shots at the President's car.fire a gun/weapon/pistol etc: · Suddenly the car stopped, and the passenger got out and fired a Kalashnikov rifle at the police car.
to start shooting: · The colonel gave the order for the soldiers to open fire.open fire on: · Troops opened fire on a group of unarmed demonstrators in the city centre.
to shoot once at someone or something, hoping to hit them: · Agent Cooper stood back and took a shot at the lock on the door.· The police claim that someone took a shot at them, and they had to withdraw for their own safety.
to shoot at someone or something, especially from far away, without aiming carefully: · A bird flew out of the tree and Harry took a potshot at it.· Somebody was taking potshots at us from behind the bushes.
to shoot at enemy soldiers, cities etc in a war, using large guns that can shoot from long distances: · British warships began shelling German positions along the coast.· Border towns have been shelled by enemy aircraft for the past two months.
to shoot at a place using a lot of large guns all firing at the same time: · The allied forces bombarded the enemy trenches for weeks.bombard somebody/something with something: · Cromwell's men had been bombarding the fort with their artillery for several days.
WORD SETSABS, nounacceleration, nounaccelerator, nounairbag, nounambulance, nounantifreeze, nounanti-lock braking system, nounaquaplane, verbarmoured car, nounarticulated, adjectiveauto, nounautomatic, nounautomatic transmission, nounautomobile, nounaxle, nounbackfire, verbback seat, nounbanger, nounbeater, nounbeep, verbbike, nounbiker, nounblind spot, nounblow, verbblowout, nounbody, nounbodywork, nounbonnet, nounbookmobile, nounboot, nounboot, verbbreakdown truck, nounbrights, nounbroadside, verbbulldozer, nounbumper, nounbumper sticker, nounbus, nounbus, verbbus pass, nounbus station, nouncab, nouncab rank, nouncabriolet, nouncabstand, nounCadillac, nouncar, nouncar alarm, nouncarburettor, nouncar park, nouncar pool, nouncarport, nouncarrier, nouncar wash, nounCaterpillar, nouncentral locking, nounchange, verbcharabanc, nounchoke, nounclamp, nounclunker, nouncoach station, nouncoachwork, nouncockpit, nouncompact, nouncompany car, nounconvertible, nouncorner, verbcoupé, nouncourtesy, adjectivecover note, nouncrack-up, nouncrankshaft, nouncrash helmet, nouncruise, verbcruise control, nouncruiser, nouncycle, noundashboard, noundefog, verbdefrost, verbdemist, verbdepot, noundesignated driver, noundiesel, noundiesel fuel, noundifferential gear, noundipstick, noundirt bike, noundirt track, noundisc brakes, noundisengage, verbdismount, verbdistributor, noundouble-decker, noundouble-park, verbdrag race, noundragster, noundrink-driving, noundrive, verbdrive, noundriver, noundriver's education, noundriver's license, noundrive shaft, noundrive-through, noundriving licence, noundriving school, noundriving test, noundrunk driving, noundump truck, noundune buggy, noundust cart, nounemergency brake, nounestate car, nounexcavator, nounexpress, nounfan belt, nounfare, nounfender, nounfender-bender, nounfiller cap, nounfilling station, nounfilter, nounfilter, verbfin, nounfire, verbfire engine, nounfirst gear, nounfishtail, verbflat, adjectiveflat, nounfloorboard, nounfog lamp, nounfour-star, nounfour-wheel drive, nounfreewheel, verbfuel injection, nounfull lock, noungarage, noungarage, verbgarbage truck, noungas-guzzler, noungasohol, noungasoline, noungas pedal, noungas station, noungear, noungearbox, noungear lever, noungear shift, noungear stick, nounglove compartment, noungo-cart, noungo-kart, noungreen light, noungrille, noungritter, nounguardrail, nounhack, nounhackney carriage, nounhandbrake, nounhandlebars, nounhatchback, nounhaulage, nounhazard lights, nounheadlamp, nounheadlight, nounheadroom, nounheap, nounhearse, nounheavy goods vehicle, nounHGV, nounhigh beams, nounhigh-octane, adjectiveHighway Code, nounhijacking, nounhit-and-run, adjectivehitchhike, verbhonk, nounhonk, verbhood, nounhoot, nounhoot, verbhopped-up, adjectivehorsebox, nounhorse trailer, nounhot rod, nounhot-wire, verbhubcap, nounhydroplane, verbignition, nounindicate, verbindicator, nouninner tube, nouninternal combustion engine, nounjack-knife, verbjalopy, nounJeep, nounjuggernaut, nounjump, verbjumper cables, nounjump leads, nounjump-start, verbkickstand, nounkick-start, verbkick-start, nounKlaxon, nounlead-free, adjectivelearner's permit, nounleft-hand drive, adjectivelicense plate, nounlight, nounlimo, nounlimousine, nounlocal, nounlock, verblock, nounlog book, nounlorry, nounlow gear, nounL-plate, nounmagneto, nounmanifold, nounmechanic, nounmeter maid, nounmileage, nounmileometer, nounmilk float, nounminibus, nounminicab, nounminivan, nounmisfire, verbmoped, nounMOT, nounmotocross, nounmotor, nounmotor, adjectivemotor, verbmotorbike, nounmotorcade, nounmotor car, nounmotorcycle, nounmotor home, nounmotoring, nounmotorist, nounmotorized, adjectivemotor pool, nounmotor racing, nounmotor scooter, nounmotor vehicle, nounmoving van, nounmpg, muffler, nounmulti-storey, nounnearside, adjectiveneutral, nounnumber plate, nounoctane, nounodometer, nounomnibus, nounoverdrive, nounovershoot, verbpanel, nounpanel truck, nounpantechnicon, nounpark, verbpark and ride, nounparking, nounparking brake, nounparking garage, nounparking light, nounparking lot, nounparking meter, nounparking ticket, nounpassenger seat, nounpatrol car, nounpatrolman, nounpedal, nounpenalty point, nounpetrol station, nounpick-up, nounpick-up truck, nounpillion, nounpiston ring, nounpit, nounplate, nounplug, nounpneumatic, adjectivepound, nounpower steering, nounprang, verbpremium, nounprovisional licence, nounpush-start, verbrace, verbrace car, nounracing car, nounradar trap, nounradial tyre, nounradiator, nounrank, nounrearview mirror, nounrefuel, verbreg., registration, nounregistration number, nounregular, nounremould, nounremoval van, nounrespray, verbrestraint, nounretread, nounrev, verbreverse, verbreverse, nounreverse gear, nounreversing light, nounride, nounrig, nounright-hand drive, adjectiveroad hog, nounroad rage, nounroad test, nounroadworthy, adjectiveRolls-Royce, nounroof-rack, nounrun, verbrun, nounrunabout, nounRV, nounsaloon, nounsalt truck, nounscooter, nounseat belt, nounsedan, nounself-drive, adjectiveshaft, nounshift, verbshock absorber, nounsidecar, nounsidelight, nounsideswipe, verbsilencer, nounsill, nounslick, nounslipstream, nounsnarl, verbsnarl-up, nounsnow chains, nounsnowmobile, nounsnow plough, nounsnow tire, nounsouped-up, adjectivespare, nounspare tyre, nounsparking plug, nounspark plug, nounspeedometer, nounspeed trap, nounspeedway, nounsplash guard, nounspoiler, nounsports car, nounstall, nounstart, verbstarter, nounstarter motor, nounstation wagon, nounsteamroller, nounsteering, nounstick, nounstick shift, nounstretch limo, nounsump, nounsunroof, nounsupercharged, adjectivesuspension, nountachograph, nountachometer, nountailback, nountailboard, nountailgate, nountailgate, verbtail light, nountailpipe, nountax disc, nountaxi, nountaxicab, nounteamster, nountest certificate, nountest drive, nounthree-point turn, nounthree-wheeler, nounthrottle, nounthrust, nounticket, nountie-up, nountotal, verbtowbar, nountowline, nountowtruck, nountractor, nountraffic jam, nountransmission, nountransporter, nountread, nountrolley, nountrolleybus, nountrucker, nountrucking, nountrunk, nountune, verbtune-up, nounturbocharger, nounturning circle, nounturn signal, nountwo-stroke, adjectiveunleaded, adjectivevalet, nounvalet, verbvan, nounvanity plate, nounveteran car, nounvintage car, nounvisor, nounwheelbase, nounwheel clamp, nounwhiplash, nounwhitewall, nounwindscreen, nounwindscreen wiper, nounwindshield wiper, nounwing, nounwing mirror, nounwiper, nounwreck, nounwrecker, nounwrite-off, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The police fired two shots at the suspects before they surrendered. Guerrillas fired five rockets at the capital yesterday, killing 23 people. I was fired with enthusiasm to go traveling in Asia. stories of magic and adventure that fire children’s imaginationsCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a full-scale flood alert Soldiers fired blanks into the crowd. The room was warm, with a fire blazing in the hearth. Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams We were in the middle of an exam when the fire alarm went off. Someone set off the fire alarm. I’ve never fired a gun in my life. the power to hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people) A cameraman was killed when his vehicle came under mortar fire. Effective crime prevention must be our main goal. a fire prevention officer shock-resistant rubber Congressman Saunders fired the opening salvo during a heated debate on capital punishment. I started a fire to warm the place up.
The police fired two shots at the suspects before they surrendered. (=make it shoot) the sound of a gun being fired
the sound of a gun being fired Guerrillas fired five rockets at the capital yesterday, killing 23 people. I was fired with enthusiasm to go traveling in Asia. stories of magic and adventure that fire children’s imaginations· A fire alarm went off and the building had to be evacuated.
a full-scale flood alert Soldiers fired blanks into the crowd. The room was warm, with a fire blazing in the hearth.· Police fired rubber bullets to break up the crowd.
(=used to order soldiers to stop shooting)
Los Angeles Police Chief Willie L. Williams· Fire crews took more than three hours to bring the blaze under control.
(=caused by fire, storm, flood etc)· The campsite suffered extensive flood damage.
· The building was destroyed by fire in 2004.
· The country is still recovering from last year's devastating floods.
informal (=send it quickly, especially because you are angry about something)· I fired off an email to the hotel, saying how disgusted I was with their level of service.
(=make someone feel very enthusiastic)· At high school, Mr Jones really fired my enthusiasm for history.
(=be very enthusiastic and keen to do something)· She came back from the course fired up with enthusiasm.
(=a special door, used if there is an emergency or a fire)· Fire crews discovered that the club’s fire exit door had been locked.
We were in the middle of an exam when the fire alarm went off. Someone set off the fire alarm.· Forest fires have broken out across the region.
(=an object that burns gas to heat a room)· She turned on the gas fire.
I’ve never fired a gun in my life.· The unoccupied building was declared a fire hazard.
the power to hire and fire (=employ and dismiss people) (=discuss each other’s ideas and think of good new ones)· Our regular meetings are opportunities to fire ideas off each other.
(=make someone use their imagination)· The aim of the exhibition is to stimulate people's imagination.
(=the direction in which someone shoots, attacks, moves etc) I was directly in the animal’s line of attack.
I was directly in the animal’s line of attack. A cameraman was killed when his vehicle came under mortar fire. Effective crime prevention must be our main goal. a fire prevention officer shock-resistant rubber (=shoot back at someone)· One plane opened fire on the American aircraft, which immediately returned fire.
Congressman Saunders fired the opening salvo during a heated debate on capital punishment.· The passenger in the car fired three shots.
(also flames spread)· The fire had spread to a nearby shed.
I started a fire to warm the place up. (=try to stop it)· Fire crews tackling the blaze were hampered by exploding gas canisters.
(=shoot a gun or missile)· Police were told not to fire their weapons.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Suddenly, guns were fired again, and a group of pirates ran from the woods and on to the stockade.· Filetti fired again, hitting Carson, who fell and slithered behind a table.· He fired again, and felt the lesser kick which told him the ball had only lodged half-way down the barrel.· Not only can he be fired again, but probably he will be fired again.· If the first shot hits you can fire again, regardless of whether you wounded or killed with your first shot.· Not only can he be fired again, but probably he will be fired again.· If the first shot hits you can fire again.· We fired again, taking deliberate aim, and were rather surprised that it was unnoticed.
· The Right-Ons fired back the unanswerable reply that meetings belonged to those who attended them.· The relay team was firing back down into the division.· Normally it was helpful, but this time, with the friendlies on the ground, they could not fire back.· Some of the men were firing back, but blindly.· Utterly out of control now, these could not even fire back, for their port-side cannon could not be brought to bear.· As the outgunned enemy tried to fire back, our fire became less random.
· She said that, as the officer felt threatened, he pulled his gun and fired off a warning shot.· As the group advanced on him, the constable fired off another shot, this time hitting Jones in the upper thigh.· First thing next morning I was going to fire off a letter, I thought, when I heard something.· After firing off a couple of jokes that bomb disastrously, he will ask for a volunteer from the audience.· At one point, laughing, they fired off a couple of rounds, ricocheting the bullets against a wall.· He took out his new gun and fired off a few shots at an ugly chimney on the roof.
· I don't think I was fired on once.· The governor sent forty soldiers to fire on what he called the horribly and detestably blasphemous Gortonians.· As they headed for the first aircraft they were fired on by a sentry.· Private Morrison's boat was fired on when he ignored warning shots.· There were reports of opposition supporters having been fired on in Tbilisi the following day.
· He fired up the gas logs to supplement the background heating and they sat on the Chesterfield.· There were several enemy. 51-caliber machine guns firing up at us.· My scurrilous expectations were fired up by a headline on a handout from the Commission.· In one radio commercial, Scratchman rescues a kitten stranded in a tree by firing up a chainsaw.· The centre engine started first and then the opposite pairs fired up at 300 millisecond intervals.· I fired up the motor again and set off in that direction.· A group of 16 Tucson-based jazz pros will fire up the Gaslight Theatre tonight.
NOUN· Then the anti-aircraft guns opened up, firing into the air against an imagined air raid.· Although they fired mainly in the air, at least five demonstrators were killed.· Gunshots crackled as police fired bullets into the air.· Thousands who joined the protest were beaten by the security forces, who fired into the air.· His plan was to go to Scuttler Bay; fire shots into the air, and go home.· One fired into the air and exploded on the ground half way to the booth.
· Harte fired the ball into the bottom corner before heading for the corner flag to celebrate.
· He fired one more tap-loaded bullet, then ran back parallel to the road.· I fired once and the bullet entered her temple at her hair line.· The man fired a single bullet, and the decapitation of St Michael prevented him from suffering the same fate.· The device, which used a shotgun modified to fire bullets, was concealed in a wooden box hidden among trees.· A gun is known to fire bullets at precisely three hundred and thirty meters per second.· The head gave a sudden twist and Jack fired two more bullets into it.
· Yeltsin fired his deputy chief of staff, Alexander I.. Kazakov, on Friday.· City laws therefore prevented the mayor from firing his chief.
· General manager Kevin Towers fired pitching coach Dan Warthen yesterday.· And the person having the biggest chuckle over it all is Pat Burns, fired as coach late last season.· The ceremony was perhaps most meaningful for Hazzard, who was fired as coach in 1988.· Colangelo, in fact, has never fired a coach just for losing.
· The latter is a book in which the author is firing on all cylinders.· This company is firing on all cylinders.· Your Reticular Activating System is firing on all cylinders, your cortex is turning somersaults.
· It suits the firm which has cut costs by firing regular employees and putting out work to people like her.· It is expensive and difficult to fire employees.· It has fired more employees, at a stroke, than at any time in its 114-year history.· Nor had the courts outlawed most patronage hiring and firing and protected most employees from wrongful discharge.· He insisted on the trustees' support and told them he wanted to fire some employees.· The White House subsequently apologized to most of the fired employees, arranging new jobs for them.· Adamson said he has fired employees and even canceled franchise agreements because of continued discriminatory practices.
· Her car was having one of its bad days, and it was some twenty minutes before the engine fired successfully.· Formerly there were glow-plugs which had to be warmed before the engine would fire.· The engine fired and the gearbox was unaffected.
· Yesterday had been the group's first taste of real sunshine and comparative warmth and it had fired their enthusiasm.· I loved him, and he really fired my enthusiasm for history.· Many of the adolescents are fired with an inherent enthusiasm for education that they seek still more when they attain their majority.· There are live presentations, to fire the enthusiasm of the thousands of schoolchildren who visit every morning throughout the year.· And our gallant lads, fired with the wild enthusiasm of the moment, madly push up the hill.· I left the University fired with enthusiasm to go to live in Moscow to practise the language.· It was not only her matching handbag and high-heeled shoes which fired my enthusiasm.
· It offers good size accommodation, benefiting from three good bedrooms, two separate reception rooms and partial gas fired central heating.· Other features include gas fired central heating.· Situated in Church Road, Litherland, the property benefits from gas fired central heating and partial secondary glazing.· National Power says because the station will be gas fired it's better for the environment.· The house, which has gas fired central heating and double glazing, is situated in Ormskirk Road, Liverpool 9.
· A gun is known to fire bullets at precisely three hundred and thirty meters per second.· Then the anti-aircraft guns opened up, firing into the air against an imagined air raid.· I went up Bald Hill, took out the gun, and fired four times.· Those who did were swiftly cut down, peppered with birdshot, as they raised their guns to fire.· He took out his new gun and fired off a few shots at an ugly chimney on the roof.· She said that, as the officer felt threatened, he pulled his gun and fired off a warning shot.· The best naval guns can fire a shell at about one kilometer per 148 second.
· Commercial speculation rather than the law fired his imagination.· Her exceptional goodness in executing the humblest and most ordinary of tasks fired the imagination of Catholics everywhere.· It could have been Hope's unknowing repudiation of the popular notion of black people which fired my imagination.· The way it was taught did not exactly fire the imagination.· No, the way to get at it is to work from whatever background has fired your imagination.· Walt the Wonder Boy, the little lad who fired the imagination of millions.· But two or three unusual features of last week's cut fired the imagination of New York's conspiracy theorists.· Seeing those lofty settlements atop the sheer rocks fires the imagination.
· For his pains in defending Paisley, Boal was fired from his lucrative job as counsel to the Attorney-General.· How do we work out the fact that a firing from one job can become an employment death sentence?· As soon as they did, they were both fired from their jobs.· A few weeks later I was fired from my job at Hunter College.
· By one analysis, Saddam's forces have fired more missiles in the last year than in the previous nine.
· If the mortar has no crew at all it is unable to fire.· Then Charlie started firing mortar rounds.· The mortar shell explodes before it is fired.· Now declare how far you want to fire the mortar shell.· The rebels had held Makati since Saturday, firing mortars and machine guns at government troops ringing the district.
· Crouching, Yeremi contented himself with firing his bolt pistol at the athletically shifting targets.· It had been a while since she'd fired a pistol and the initial retort took even her by surprise.· You could fire a starting pistol next to some and they would barely look up.· There was a crack, but no sepoy dropped dead; the percussion cap had fired but not the pistol.· The policeman fired some pistol shots in the air, but there was no answer.· Suddenly, Joyce fired his pistol and the battle had begun.· He fired his pistol in the air and charged over the top as if he were chasing some errant fox.
· The police fired teargas in the central shopping district to disperse the rioters, creating panic among shoppers.· It was then that the police fired tear gas.· When the mob began burning the car and restaurant, the police fired a few warning shots, but to no avail.· Several demonstrators were badly injured as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd in Revolution Square last Saturday.· Gunshots crackled as police fired bullets into the air.· These were swiftly put down by a detachment of the newly established Armed Police firing tear gas into the crowds.· On May 3, 1885, police fired into a crowd of strikers in Chicago, wounding many and killing four.
· The crew tried to drive it away, and one man fired a rifle at it.· After dark, the gooks fired a recoilless rifle into the firebase.· The other time I came near to being shot was in May, when nobody should have been firing a rifle.· The man had been seen firing a rifle in his back garden and through his letter box.· Their Arab legionnaires galloped behind, firing their rifles exuberantly into the sky like extras in a Beau Geste film.
· It had two lids which you closed once you were in, and instead of bullets, it fired rockets.· Three hours later, to our puzzlement, a small fishing boat scurried up in our wake, firing red distress rockets.· Spray the fountain, then fire a rocket at the Bowlarama.· It was placed in an eccentric, high-inclination orbit around Venus by the firing of a small rocket engine.· This is a bit like what happens when one fires a rocket upward from the surface of the earth.· He fired a rocket into the middle of the clearing, and the blast broke the string.· Whiston fire station officer Phil Brammeier blasted pranksters who fired a rocket firework through a letterbox in Scott Avenue.· In 1935, Goddard fired two rockets to ranges of 1. 8 and 2. 6 miles.
· One of the tanks was firing beehive rounds point-blank.· Gunmen fired more than 100 rounds into his black Chevrolet Suburban, killing him instantly.· Just prior to our assault, they had fired 6, 000 rounds of artillery and bombed it all morning.· The artillery began firing beehive rounds, which I had never seen before at minimum elevation.· Then Charlie started firing mortar rounds.· During an ambush we sprung near Hoc Mon, I remember firing 25 to 30 rounds as fast as I could.
· He ought to have waited to fire one really effective salvo at close range.· Clinton fired the opening salvo last month when he included tax cuts in his proposed 1997 budget.
· The army plans later to fit Challenger with a new gun operating at even higher pressure and firing an improved shell.· The best naval guns can fire a shell at about one kilometer per 148 second.· Now declare how far you want to fire the mortar shell.· When it got to that distance, I just stuck up the M79 and fired off a shotgun shell.· The preliminary bombardment was the heaviest so far mounted: over two weeks 3,100 guns fired some 471/2 million shells.
· The episode had a happy ending: according to Fleutiaux not a shot was fired, nor a ransom paid.· There was no indication the shots were fired at police, nor was there an explanation for the gunfire.· The battling had to go on without many actual shots being fired.· It has been used twice before to kill, and each time a single shot was fired.· If you were spotted, a shot was fired directly over your head, and you then had to freeze and surrender.· Harriet Shakespeare and the policemen had begun to creep closer, ready to run as soon as the first shot was fired.· During his address, some shots were fired, two men were killed, and several wounded.
· One of these rules permits soldiers to fire on vehicles being driven directly at people.· The governor sent forty soldiers to fire on what he called the horribly and detestably blasphemous Gortonians.· At the beginning of the century the average well-trained soldier could fire about one round per minute.· The soldiers refused to fire on the protestors.· Mobs burned tyres in the streets, and the prudent stayed at home while soldiers drove around firing their weapons.· Then, as always, the soldiers fire back at them.· The boys from the bazaar hide on the target-range, watching the soldiers fire.· A soldier saw it, fired at about seventy-five yards distance, and missed it.
· The weapon does not fire and can not be used again for the rest of the game.· The wounds were caused by a. 22 caliber weapon fired from behind the victims, who were kneeling.· She raised her weapon to fire at the door.
· Bigger Silicon Valley firms have also been firing workers.· Flexibility for employers means new chances to save money and to fire unwanted workers.· Since the arrests, the company has fired one worker and suspended three others, Maher said.
VERB· Stephen climbed on top of the pile of earth and began to fire into the gloom.· The young man took the seat behind the cold metal desk and began to fire questions at me.· Two other boats approached, fore and aft, and began firing fireworks at the vessel.· I picked out a branch and began firing at it.· He was walking with his mum in Chicago when two men in a car began firing at three others.· The artillery began firing beehive rounds, which I had never seen before at minimum elevation.· As the situation worsened more border police entered the area and began firing live ammunition into the crowd.· As the tension mounted, Mr Newhouse himself began firing people with little warning.
· You can also hire and fire physios, trainers and scouts.· There are professional managers who are hired and fired by the residents.· Professor Cousins may be on his way out but he hadn't gone yet and still had hiring and firing power.· My father got hired and fired a lot, usually en masse with entire coaching staffs.· The board, composed of nine presidential appointees, has the power to hire and fire the postmaster general.· Principals are now hired and fired based on merit rather than seniority.· The Council at least has the power to hire and fire some key players beyond the manager.
· But nothing much has happened this year that suggests he is about to start firing.· Other elements were further back, and they started firing.· A man called John Salvi walked into the clinic and started firing.· We were about a minute away from touchdown when the gunships started firing.· The older woman had started to fire from the ravine.· Then Charlie started firing mortar rounds.· But nothing much has happened this year to suggest he is about to start firing.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► wood-fired/gas-fired/coal-firedPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► be shooting/firing blanks► the fat is in the fire► out of the frying pan and into the fire► hold (your) fire► get on/along like a house on fire► have several irons in the fire► be in the firing line/in the line of fire► poke the fire► quench a fire/flames► set the Thames on fire
1shoot [intransitive, transitive] to shoot bullets or bombsfire at/on/into- The latter is a book in which the author is firing on all cylinders.
- This company is firing on all cylinders.
- Your Reticular Activating System is firing on all cylinders, your cortex is turning somersaults.
- The Professor had finished, and Ace and Daak were firing questions at her.
- The young man took the seat behind the cold metal desk and began to fire questions at me.
- It only added fuel to the fire.
- Once the process is under way, empire-building adds fuel to the fire, and more fat to the bureaucracy.
- A ball of fire he might be, but he'd made one big mistake!
- Douglas was a ball of fire all season.
- One witness described seeing a plume of moke and a ball of fire and then seeing a body on the road.
- An as-yet-unproven system called J-STARS, getting its baptism of fire in the Gulf, illustrates the point.
- Beige popsters take a vicarious pride in the slow baptism of fire that their chosen genre and its protagonists underwent.
- Diana admits that she wasn't easy to handle during that baptism of fire.
- It had been a baptism by fire, but she had come through.
- It is almost impossible to see where events will lead but you are going through a baptism of fire.
- My baptism of fire had been with Leon Brittan who was Chief Secretary until the 1983 general election.
- This was our baptism of fire and we learned many lessons.
- Opposed, he could breathe fire; contradicted or challenged, he could put up his fists and fight.
- Ready to roar.Cricket's young dragons learning to breathe fire.
- Some of us need bosses and editors breathing fire down our necks.
- What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to govern?
- For some reason the charcoal isn't catching.
- Investigators said that a lit cigarette caused the curtains to catch fire.
- The car turned over, but luckily it didn't catch fire.
- There was an explosion, and the whole garage caught on fire.
- Two farm workers died when a barn caught fire yesterday.
- And the rivers of water were thick as sludge, slick enough with oil to catch fire.
- Each team started slowly offensively before catching fire in the final seven minutes of the opening period.
- Finally, the bird, while searching for the mouse, accidentally knocked over the woodpile, which caught fire.
- In the midst of this seemingly successful gesture, the hotel catches fire.
- Nine times out of ten it will catch fire in your hands.
- Sydney withdrew out of range and bombarded Emden with shells from her 6in guns until she caught fire.
- The whole thing could catch fire all over the front pages Crocus List and all.
- We know that the next falling star is almost certain to get too close to the sun, and catch fire!
- At a deeper level, however, the concept of the mentally abnormal female offender has come under scrutiny.
- He added that to be accurate, the aircraft would have to risk coming under fire.
- He said the company came under scrutiny along with other insurers after allegations were first made against Metropolitan Life in 1993.
- In addition to facing the ire of frustrated riders, Muni has also come under fire recently from federal safety officials.
- Patrick is generally regarded as having been an aggressive enforcer of civil-rights laws and often came under fire from conservatives.
- Police came under attack from bottles, bricks and plastic crates.
- Sir Derek came under fire from several shareholders.
- Their vehicle came under fire but was not hit.
- The latter is a book in which the author is firing on all cylinders.
- This company is firing on all cylinders.
- Your Reticular Activating System is firing on all cylinders, your cortex is turning somersaults.
- After selecting a field he carried out his emergency drills and shut down the engine.
- And practise a family fire drill.
- Immediately fire drills were followed and the building vacated.
- It was sabotaged by an unforeseen fire drill.
- So back to the fire drill.
- The advantage of fire drill thinking is that it reminds you that the worst really can happen.
- The local primary school nearest the naval base, Barne Barton, has an annual nuclear emergency drill.
- David Cottis, London At what point does breeze fan a flame rather than douse it?
- Harry blundering into the field of fire.
- The best place for most artillery is on a hill commanding a wide field of fire with long clear lines of sight.
- The first is that it preserves a clear field of fire for my missile troops.
- We had a good field of fire all round in case the enemy came out of the sunken road or over the hedge.
- We had triple concertina wire set up, claymores, and tripwires, and we even cut some fields of fire.
- Sitting there, I imagined Durrell at his computer, clicking out his program for fighting fire with fire.
- The official pronouncement was that they intended to fight fire with fire.
- And some sources believe the proposal for a £75m prison at Fazakerley is one option now in the firing line.
- Foreign tourists are also in the firing line.
- He put his old enemy, corporate power, in the firing line.
- Its application does put its exponents in the firing line of critical appraisal.
- Read in studio A family is living in the firing line of over-enthusiastic golfers because of a planning mistake.
- The Law Society too was in the firing line.
- Unveiled Benefits are also thought to be in the firing line.
- We're public figures and so therefore we know we're in the firing line.
- A couple of years ago these lanes were far from peaceful when a flash flood swept through the area.
- He believes Ruess probably died in a flash flood or fell off a cliff.
- In the event of a flash flood, remember that you should immediately seek higher ground.
- Like the desert after a flash flood, Freshers' Fair is decorated by societies which bloom for just a day.
- Summer flash floods achieve little beyond destroying crops.
- The report warns of extreme events such as thunderstorms causing flash floods and intense meteorological depressions.
- Urgent talks after flash flood causes chaos.
- But what really hurts is the friendly fire.
- Few details were released of the precise circumstances of the friendly fire incidents which caused the casualties.
- One step forward.New hope for truth about the victims of friendly fire.
- Wednesday he re-introduced Kevin Pollak, injured and disfigured by friendly fire in the Gulf War.
- But while their charges hang fire for three or four years, the company has made its joint.
- The case is hanging fire for the moment, pending some changes in the paperwork filed so far.
- Clothes are hung from nails, and cooking is done over an open fire.
- He is charged with ordering his subordinates to open fire on Tangi-Chu.
- Never stand over an open fire as Victorian fathers used to do.
- No wonder they had opened fire.
- Rebels hiding in jungle outside the village opened fire, killing one policeman.
- The battery... ascends the hill towards the Henry house and opens fire at close range.
- Then he opened fire at point-blank range, first at Cha, then at Park, severely wounding them both.
- There are two comfortable lounges with open fires, one with a large collection of books for guests to read.
- Dating the boss's daughter is playing with fire.
- Failure to stick to the safety rules is simply playing with fire.
- These men are criminals. If you get involved with them, you'll be playing with fire.
- Charity stunt team warned ... you're playing with fire.
- Manchester United continue to play with fire, losing 2-1 against Anderlecht.
- Roy Alon who appeared in many of the James Bond films said the team were playing with fire.
- She was playing with fire, in Lydia's opinion.
- Sir Hugo advises Deronda not to play with fire.
- So, your employer is playing with fire.
- The mask made him seem menacing, and she suddenly had the sensation that with Lucenzo she was playing with fire.
- With Emma he had played with fire and narrowly escaped burning.
- A roaring fire was in the grate and the room was pleasantly warm.
- He was acutely aware of everything that had gone on in front of the then roaring fire.
- I built a roaring fire in the stove and baked some potatoes.
- The aristocrats would be the kindling for a roaring fire fueled by the fats of social exploitation.
- And if you believe there's no smoke without fire, Sean Young must be a towering inferno.
- But there's no smoke without fire.
- A streak of lightning split the sky.
- Sometimes there is hope, a streak of light, a blur on a piece of film.
- The three women were wreaking havoc with their guns that fired streaks of light.
- There was another streak of lightning overhead.
- A wall of water a thousand feet high smashed down on Nagarythe.
- A few minutes later, a wall of water crashed over the lip of the Falls and Niagara was in business again.
- And they drove off into another amazing wall of water.
- But there was no wall of water crashing through the canyon.
- I watched as the roof of the house seemed to rest on the four walls of fire.
- Spray, driven by the wall of water, struck his face.
- Surrounding buildings had to be protected by a wall of water to stop them being engulfed by the flames.
- They had been through the wall of fire together.
- And now we have Sliver which was the subject of much wrangling and hasn't exactly set the world on fire.
- But if Rhodes hasn't set the world on fire with his batting, he certainly has with his fielding.
- Either way, the speed and acceleration is not going to set the world on fire.
- It was a lovely accomplishment, of course, but nothing to set the world on fire with.
- None of the three papers was going to set the world on fire.
- The sonorities glow, and the whole thing is user-friendly without setting the world on fire.
Soldiers fired on the crowd.fire something at somebody The police fired two shots at the suspects before they surrendered.fire a gun/weapon/rifle etc (=make it shoot) the sound of a gun being firedfire bullets/missiles/rockets etc Guerrillas fired five rockets at the capital yesterday, killing 23 people.► see thesaurus at shoot2job [transitive] to force someone to leave their job SYN sack British Englishbe/get fired She didn’t want to get fired.fire somebody from something I’ve just been fired from my job, and I don’t know what to do.fire somebody for something The airline fired him for being drunk.RegisterIn written English, people usually say that someone is dismissed rather than fired, which is slightly informal: · He was dismissed for being drunk.3excite [transitive] to make someone feel interested in something and excited about it SYN inspirebe fired with enthusiasm I was fired with enthusiasm to go traveling in Asia.fire somebody’s enthusiasm/imagination stories of magic and adventure that fire children’s imaginations4questions fire questions at somebody to ask someone a lot of questions quickly, often in order to criticize them5wood-fired/gas-fired/coal-fired using wood, gas, or coal as fuel: a gas-fired stove a coal-fired boiler6clay [transitive] to bake bricks, clay pots etc in a kiln: fired earthenware7engine [intransitive] if a vehicle’s engine fires, the petrol is lit to make the engine work8be firing on all cylinders informal to be thinking or doing something well, using all your mental abilities and energy: When the team’s firing on all cylinders, they can beat the best in the league.THESAURUSfire (also dismiss formal) to make someone leave their job, especially because they have done something wrong: · He was fired for surfing the Internet during work time.· Harris was caught stealing, and was dismissed from his job.sack/give somebody the sack British English informal to make someone leave their job, especially because they are not good at it, or because they have done something wrong: · Bates was sacked from his job after the team failed to win any games.· His boss gave him the sack for taking too much time off work.lay somebody off to make a lot of workers, especially workers in a large factory or organization, leave their jobs, because there is not enough work for them to do, or not enough money to pay their wages: · 3000 car workers have been laid off at the factory in Cleveland.make somebody redundant British English to make someone leave their job because they are no longer needed: · 5 staff will be made redundant at the end of this month.let somebody go to make someone leave their job, Used by employers to avoid saying directly that they are getting rid of people: · We’ve had to let two members of staff go.discharge to make someone leave their job in the army, air force etc: · Grant had been discharged from the navy for threatening an officer.ease somebody out to make someone leave their job in a way that makes it seem as if they have chosen to leave: · He had been eased out of office in an attempt to prevent a political crisis.relieve somebody of their post/position formal to make someone leave their job because they have done something wrong – used especially to avoid saying this directly, and also when the job is a powerful one: · The colonel and two other senior officers were relieved of their posts.fire away phrasal verb spoken used to tell someone that you are ready to answer questions: ‘Do you mind if I ask you something, Woody?’ ‘Fire away.’GRAMMAR Fire away is usually used in the imperative.fire back phrasal verb to quickly and angrily answer a question or remarkfire back at President Bush has fired back at his critics.fire something ↔ off phrasal verb1to shoot a bullet, bomb etc into the air: Chuck reloaded and fired off both barrels. Mexicans have a tradition of firing off guns to welcome in the new year.2to quickly send an angry letter to someone: I fired off a furious letter to the editor.fire somebody ↔ up phrasal verb to make someone become very excited, interested, or angry: It was alarming the way she got so fired up about small things.GRAMMAR Fire up is usually passive.