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fire

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verb British English pronunciation: fire /ˈfaɪə(r)/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theyfire
he/she/itfires
present participlefiring
past tensefired
past participlefired
Other entries for this word
 
  1. 1
    [intransitive/transitive] if a weapon fires, or if someone fires it, someone uses it to shoot

    She squeezed the trigger, but the gun failed to fire.

    fire at:

    Jed lifted his rifle and fired at the target.

    fire on/upon:

    Police threatened to fire on demonstrators.

    fire a gun/weapon:

    The rebels fired their machine guns into the air.

    fire a bullet/round/shot/missile etc:

    Several shots were fired, and three men were seen running away.

    fire back (=shoot at someone who is shooting at you):

    The gunmen fired, and police fired back.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of fire
  2. 2
    [transitive] to make someone leave their job, sometimes as a punishment

    She was fired for refusing to comply with safety regulations.

    He's the person responsible for hiring and firing.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of fire
  3. 3
    [transitive] if you fire questions at someone, you ask them a lot of questions very quickly, so that it is difficult for them to answer
    fire questions at someone:

    Reporters fired questions at her as she left the court house.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of fire

phrases

This is the British English definition of fire. View American English definition of fire.

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