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9. The discharge of firearms; firing; as, the troops were exposed to a heavy fire.
Blue fire, Red fire, Green fire (Pyrotech.), compositions of various combustible substances, as sulphur,
niter, lampblack, etc., the flames of which are colored by various metallic salts, as those of antimony,
strontium, barium, etc. — Fire alarm (a) A signal given on the breaking out of a fire. (b) An apparatus
for giving such an alarm. — Fire annihilator, a machine, device, or preparation to be kept at hand
for extinguishing fire by smothering it with some incombustible vapor or gas, as carbonic acid. — Fire
balloon. (a) A balloon raised in the air by the buoyancy of air heated by a fire placed in the lower part.
(b) A balloon sent up at night with fireworks which ignite at a regulated height. Simmonds. — Fire
bar, a grate bar. — Fire basket, a portable grate; a cresset. Knight. — Fire beetle. (Zoöl.) See in
the Vocabulary. — Fire blast, a disease of plants which causes them to appear as if burnt by fire. —
Fire box, the chamber of a furnace, steam boiler, etc., for the fire. — Fire brick, a refractory brick,
capable of sustaining intense heat without fusion, usually made of fire clay or of siliceous material, with
some cementing substance, and used for lining fire boxes, etc. — Fire brigade, an organized body
of men for extinguished fires. — Fire bucket. See under Bucket. — Fire bug, an incendiary; one
who, from malice or through mania, persistently sets fire to property; a pyromaniac. [U.S.] — Fire clay.
See under Clay. — Fire company, a company of men managing an engine in extinguishing fires.
— Fire cross. See Fiery cross. [Obs.] Milton. — Fire damp. See under Damp. — Fire dog.
See Firedog, in the Vocabulary. — Fire drill. (a) A series of evolutions performed by fireman for
practice. (b) An apparatus for producing fire by friction, by rapidly twirling a wooden pin in a wooden
socket; — used by the Hindoos during all historic time, and by many savage peoples. — Fire eater.
(a) A juggler who pretends to eat fire. (b) A quarrelsome person who seeks affrays; a hotspur. [Colloq.]
— Fire engine, a portable forcing pump, usually on wheels, for throwing water to extinguish fire. —
Fire escape, a contrivance for facilitating escape from burning buildings. — Fire gilding (Fine Arts),
a mode of gilding with an amalgam of gold and quicksilver, the latter metal being driven off afterward
by heat. — Fire gilt (Fine Arts), gold laid on by the process of fire gilding. — Fire insurance, the
act or system of insuring against fire; also, a contract by which an insurance company undertakes, in
consideration of the payment of a premium or small percentage — usually made periodically — to indemnify
an owner of property from loss by fire during a specified period. — Fire irons, utensils for a fireplace
or grate, as tongs, poker, and shovel. — Fire main, a pipe for water, to be used in putting out fire.
— Fire master (Mil), an artillery officer who formerly supervised the composition of fireworks. —
Fire office, an office at which to effect insurance against fire. — Fire opal, a variety of opal giving
firelike reflections. — Fire ordeal, an ancient mode of trial, in which the test was the ability of the
accused to handle or tread upon red-hot irons. Abbot. — Fire pan, a pan for holding or conveying
fire, especially the receptacle for the priming of a gun. — Fire plug, a plug or hydrant for drawing
water from the main pipes in a street, building, etc., for extinguishing fires. — Fire policy, the writing
or instrument expressing the contract of insurance against loss by fire. — Fire pot. (a) (Mil.) A small
earthen pot filled with combustibles, formerly used as a missile in war. (b) The cast iron vessel which
holds the fuel or fire in a furnace. (c) A crucible. (d) A solderer's furnace. — Fire raft, a raft laden
with combustibles, used for setting fire to an enemy's ships. — Fire roll, a peculiar beat of the drum
to summon men to their quarters in case of fire. — Fire setting (Mining), the process of softening
or cracking the working face of a lode, to facilitate excavation, by exposing it to the action of fire; — now
generally superseded by the use of explosives. Raymond. — Fire ship, a vessel filled with combustibles,
for setting fire to an enemy's ships. — Fire shovel, a shovel for taking up coals of fire. — Fire stink,
the stench from decomposing iron pyrites, caused by the formation of sulphureted hydrogen. Raymond.
— Fire surface, the surfaces of a steam boiler which are exposed to the direct heat of the fuel and
the products of combustion; heating surface. — Fire swab, a swab saturated with water, for cooling
a gun in action and clearing away particles of powder, etc. Farrow. — Fire teaser, in England, the
fireman of a steam emgine. — Fire water, ardent spirits; — so called by the American Indians. —
Fire worship, the worship of fire, which prevails chiefly in Persia, among the followers of Zoroaster,
called Chebers, or Guebers, and among the Parsees of India. — Greek fire. See under Greek. —
On fire, burning; hence, ardent; passionate; eager; zealous. — Running fire, the rapid discharge of
firearms in succession by a line of troops. — St. Anthony's fire, erysipelas; — an eruptive fever which
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