1. the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy; "hold your fire until you can see the whites of their eyes"; "they retreated in the face of withering enemy fire"
2. a fireplace in which a fire is burning; "they sat by the fire and talked"
3. intense adverse criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack"; "don''t give me any flak"
4. the event of something burning (often destructive); "they lost everything in the fire"
5. a severe trial; "he went through fire and damnation"
6. feelings of great warmth and intensity; "he spoke with great ardor"
7. the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing heat and light and (often) smoke; "fire was one of our ancestors'' first discoveries"
8. once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)
9. bake in a kiln so as to harden; "fire pottery"
10. destroy by fire; "They burned the house and his diaries"
11. cause to go off; "fire a gun"; "fire a bullet"
12. go off or discharge; "The gun fired"
13. start firing a weapon
14. call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy"
15. drive out or away by or as if by fire; "The soldiers were fired"; "Surrender fires the cold skepticism"
16. provide with fuel; "Oil fires the furnace"
17. terminate the employment of; "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers"

Similar Words: firing, attack, flak, flack, blast, ardor, ardour, fervor, fervour, fervency, fervidness, flame, flaming, burn, burn down, discharge, go off, open fire, arouse, elicit, enkindle, kindle, evoke, raise, provoke, fuel, give notice, can, dismiss, give the axe, send away, sack, force out, give the sack, terminate

Hyponyms: antiaircraft fire, barrage, barrage fire, battery, bombardment, shelling, broadside, fusillade, salvo, volley, burst, call fire, cover, covering fire, concentrated fire, massed fire, counterfire, counterpreparation fire, crossfire, destruction fire, direct fire, distributed fire, friendly fire, fratricide, hostile fire, grazing fire, harassing fire, indirect fire, interdiction fire, neutralization fire, observed fire, preparation fire, radar fire, registration fire, scheduled fire, searching fire, supporting fire, suppressive fire, unobserved fire, artillery fire, cannon fire, cookfire, bonfire, balefire, brush fire, campfire, conflagration, inferno, forest fire, grassfire, smoulder, smudge, zeal, blaze, blazing, flare, backfire, cremate, torch, scorch, pop, loose off, let fly, let drive, shoot, strike a chord, touch a chord, invite, ask for, draw, rekindle, infatuate, prick, inflame, stir up, wake, ignite, heat, fire up, stimulate, shake, shake up, excite, stir, anger, upset, discompose, untune, disconcert, discomfit, shame, hurt, wound, injure, bruise, offend, spite, overwhelm, overpower, sweep over, whelm, overcome, overtake, interest, retire, pension off, clean out, furlough, lay off, squeeze out, dismiss, send packing, send away, drop

Grouped Verbs: burn, combust, incinerate

Derivational Morphology: open fire, discharge, go off, burn, burn down, attack, round, assail, lash out, snipe, assault, flame, fuel, flaming, burn mark, firing, firing off, incitement, incitation, provocation, evocation, induction, elicitation, arousal, rousing, dismissal, dismission, liberation, release, sack, sacking

Anagrams: rife