as in torch
a person who deliberately and unlawfully sets fire to a building or other property
after the second suspicious fire, police set a trap for the firebug
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Recent Examples of firebug
An arson fire destroys the 43-year-old Globe Theatre on March 8 (the arsonist was never caught, but a firebug had set several blazes in the park that winter).
—
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2025
In video released by police, the firebug could be seen setting fire to a small pile of trash next to the head of a sleeping passenger stretched out on the seat.
—Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 12 Feb. 2025
Two men have been charged with felony arson in Los Angeles in unrelated cases as authorities combat firebugs, looters and multiple raging blazes in Southern California.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 15 Jan. 2025
And an even handier rundown of fireworks laws in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana for you firebugs.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, The Enquirer, 4 July 2023
Rogers reviewed call logs to guess their likely next target and alerted officers, who nabbed the firebugs in action.
—Jennifer Brett, ajc, 28 Sep. 2019
Some, like the radiantly red firebug, mutate aesthetically, their normally symmetrical designs warped and fractured.
—National Geographic, 30 Apr. 2018
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Oct. 2025
In video released by police, the firebug could be seen setting fire to a small pile of trash next to the head of a sleeping passenger stretched out on the seat.
—Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 12 Feb. 2025
Two men have been charged with felony arson in Los Angeles in unrelated cases as authorities combat firebugs, looters and multiple raging blazes in Southern California.
—Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 15 Jan. 2025
And an even handier rundown of fireworks laws in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana for you firebugs.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, The Enquirer, 4 July 2023
Rogers reviewed call logs to guess their likely next target and alerted officers, who nabbed the firebugs in action.
—Jennifer Brett, ajc, 28 Sep. 2019
Some, like the radiantly red firebug, mutate aesthetically, their normally symmetrical designs warped and fractured.
—National Geographic, 30 Apr. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for firebug
torch
Noun
-
Everybody was going to get their torches.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Rose was born in 1988, eight years after Keith Godchaux’s death in a car accident, but the singer and songwriter is carrying the Dead torch proudly, performing with Grahame Lesh (son of late Dead bassist Phil Lesh) this summer as part of the Dead 60 celebration.—
Shirley Halperin,
Rolling Stone,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Firebug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/firebug. Accessed 27 Nov. 2025.
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