fire 1 of 2

1
as in inferno
a destructive burning a number of suspicious fires in the neighborhood recently

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fire

2 of 2

verb

1
as in to shoot
to cause (a projectile) to be driven forward with force police officers firing rubber bullets

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2
as in to blast
to cause a weapon to release a missile with great force soldiers fired at the enemy in panic-stricken disorder

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fire
Noun
Currently, there is no data indicating the containment progress of the fire and its cause remains unknown. Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 14 July 2025 The most recent incarnation of the lodge had been operational since 1937, after a kitchen fire burned down the original in 1932. Theresa Braine, New York Daily News, 14 July 2025
Verb
News of Kyiv's pending withdrawal comes just a day after Moscow fired 537 aerial weapons toward Ukraine, including 477 drones and decoys and 60 missiles, according to Ukraine's air force. Anders Hagstrom, FOXNews.com, 30 June 2025 The Justice Department has reportedly fired at least three prosecutors involved in criminal cases tied to the 2021 US Capitol riot. Jade Walker, CNN Money, 30 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for fire
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fire
Noun
  • Climate change is a major contributor, as drought and rising global temperatures make the infernos bigger, faster and harder to stop.
    CNN.com Wire Service, Mercury News, 3 July 2025
  • And days before the Formula One Grand Prix in Jeddah in March 2022, the Houthi rebels fired a missile at an oil storage facility in the Saudi city and an inferno of fire and smoke filled the skyline.
    Dina Esfandiary, Time, 1 July 2025
Noun
  • Cooler temperatures raise level of play The temperature dropped, and the intensity rose.
    Michael Cox, New York Times, 10 July 2025
  • Expressing Emotions Supports Emotional Regulation While many try to instinctively suppress uncomfortable emotions, research shows that simply putting your feelings into words can powerfully help regulate emotional intensity.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • The ordeal happened at Carver’s Gap, near the North Carolina-Tennessee border and a roughly 65-mile drive northeast from Asheville.
    Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 3 July 2025
  • The ordeal raised questions about the efficacy of the Omnilert system.
    Rachel Wegner, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025
Verb
  • Doing so could stimulate economic growth, and would be warmly welcomed by the White House and investors.
    Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
  • Examples include flashing notifications that make your phone jump and squeak, colorful rewards when others like your posts, and algorithms that push out the most emotional content to stimulate your most base emotions of anger, shame or glee.
    Lisa Schirch, The Conversation, 7 July 2025
Verb
  • At least one department, the Department of Veterans Affairs, has massively scaled back a plan to sack more than 76,000 employees.
    Rebecca Morin, USA Today, 10 July 2025
  • Ange Postecoglou was sacked two weeks later and replaced by Thomas Frank.
    Jay Harris, New York Times, 10 July 2025
Verb
  • However, if Lillard is planning to sign with a team this year and wants to land more than the minimum, that throws a wrench into the larger free-agent landscape.
    Bryan Toporek, Forbes.com, 2 July 2025
  • Unlike other characters that need to jump on enemies to defeat them, DK can throw an endless stream of haymaker punches in all directions and can even rip chunks of rock and the ground itself out to throw with precision.
    Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • The pair, who met as college undergrads, both burned with idealism and recognized their privilege could be leveraged for a game-changing idea.
    Carole Horst, Variety, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The Ellen MacArthur Foundation promotes circular fashion and says that, in the United States, an amount of clothing equal to a garbage truck is ferried to landfills or burned every second.
    Neeti Mehra, Treehugger, 13 Sep. 2023
Noun
  • It was never built, because understanding dolphin language was never a research priority, but the whole project just feels very 1970s in its inspiration and enthusiasm.
    Eva Amsen, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
  • Crucially for Spurs, that enthusiasm in possession doesn’t wane without it.
    Thom Harris, New York Times, 11 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fire.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fire. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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