1. Furious; violent; unrestrained; impetuous; as, a fierce wind.
His fierce thunder drove us to the deep.
Milton. 2. Vehement in anger or cruelty; ready or eager to kill or injure; of a nature to inspire terror; ferocious. "A
fierce whisper." Dickens. "A fierce tyrant." Pope.
The fierce foe hung upon our broken rear.
Milton.
Thou huntest me as a fierce lion.
Job. x. 16. 3. Excessively earnest, eager, or ardent.
Syn. — Ferocious; savage; cruel; vehement; impetuous; barbarous; fell. See Ferocious.
— Fierce"ly, adv. — Fierce"ness, n.
Fieri facias
(||Fi"e*ri fa"ci*as) [L., cause it to be done.] (Law) A judicial writ that lies for one who has
recovered in debt or damages, commanding the sheriff that he cause to be made of the goods, chattels,
or real estate of the defendant, the sum claimed. Blackstone. Cowell.
Fieriness
(Fi"er*i*ness) n. The quality of being fiery; heat; acrimony; irritability; as, a fieriness of temper.
Addison.
Fiery
(Fi"er*y) a. [Formerly written firy, fr. fire.]
1. Consisting of, containing, or resembling, fire; as, the fiery gulf of Etna; a fiery appearance.
And fiery billows roll below.
I. Watts. 2. Vehement; ardent; very active; impetuous.
Hath thy fiery heart so parched thine entrails?
Shak.
The fiery spirit of his forefathers.
W. Irwing. 3. Passionate; easily provoked; irritable.
You know the fiery quality of the duke.
Shak. 4. Unrestrained; fierce; mettlesome; spirited.
One curbed the fiery steed.
Dryden. 5. heated by fire, or as if by fire; burning hot; parched; feverish. Pope.
The sword which is made fiery.
Hooker. Fiery cross, a cross constructed of two firebrands, and pitched upon the point of a spear; formerly in
Scotland borne by a runner as a signal for the clan to take up arms. Sir W. Scott.
Fife
(Fife) n. [F. fifre, OHG. pfifa, LL. pipa pipe, pipare to play on the pipe, fr. L. pipire, pipare, to
peep, pip, chirp, as a chiken. See Pipe.] (Mus.) A small shrill pipe, resembling the piccolo flute, used
chiefly to accompany the drum in military music.
