once thought to be one of four elements composing the universe (Empedocles)
"When studying ancient Greek philosophy, I learned that Empedocles believed fire was one of the four fundamental elements making up all matter."
fuel that is burning and is used as a means for cooking
"put the kettle on the fire"
"barbecue over an open fire"
A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering.
"The new FIRE community group was founded to help professionals in finance, insurance, and real estate network locally."
Acronym of finance, insurance and real estate: a class of businesses.
In plain English: Fire is the hot, glowing light and heat you see when something burns.
"The fire was started by lightning striking a dry tree."
Usage: As a noun, fire refers to the natural phenomenon of burning or an accidental blaze that causes damage. Do not use this word to abbreviate finance, insurance, and real estate in general conversation, as that is a specific industry acronym unrelated to combustion.
terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position
"The boss fired his secretary today"
"The company terminated 25% of its workers"
drive out or away by or as if by fire
"The soldiers were fired"
"Surrender fires the cold skepticism"
To set (something, often a building) on fire.
"The arsonist managed to throw a lit match through the window and quickly set the old warehouse on fire."
In plain English: To fire someone means to officially tell them they can no longer work for you because they lost their job.
"The manager decided to fire the employee for being late every day."
Usage: As a verb in everyday usage, fire most commonly means to dismiss an employee from their job or to launch ammunition and missiles. Do not confuse this with the meaning of setting something ablaze, which is a much less frequent context for the word.
Amazing; excellent.
"The band played so fire that everyone jumped up and down during their encore."
In plain English: Fire is something that is extremely hot and dangerous, often causing things to burn.
"The fire engine was parked in front of the burning building."
Usage: Use "fire" as an adjective only when describing something as incredibly exciting, energetic, or impressive, such as a fire performance or a fire engine. It is informal slang and should not be used to describe literal flames or heated objects.
The word fire comes from the Old English fȳr and traces its roots back to the Proto-Indo-European language. It has retained its original meaning of combustion throughout its journey into modern English.