Found 2 items, similar to Red fire.
English → English (WordNet)
Definition: red fire
red fire
n : combustible material (usually salts of lithium or strontium)
that burns bright red; used in flares and fireworks
English → English (gcide)
Definition: Red fire
Red
\Red\, a. [Compar.
Redder (-d?r); superl.
Reddest.] [OE.
red, reed, AS. re['a]d, re['o]d; akin to OS. r[=o]d, OFries.
r[=a]d, D. rood, G. roht, rot, OHG. r[=o]t, Dan. & Sw.
r["o]d, Icel. rau[eth]r, rj[=o][eth]r, Goth. r['a]uds, W.
rhudd, Armor. ruz, Ir. & Gael. ruadh, L. ruber, rufus, Gr.
'eryqro`s, Skr. rudhira, rohita; cf. L. rutilus. [root]113.
Cf.
Erysipelas,
Rouge,
Rubric,
Ruby,
Ruddy,
Russet,
Rust.]
Of the color of blood, or of a tint resembling that color; of
the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar
spectrum, which is furthest from the violet part.
“Fresh
flowers, white and reede.” --Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Your color, I warrant you, is as red as any rose.
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Red is a general term, including many different shades
or hues, as scarlet, crimson, vermilion, orange red,
and the like.
[1913 Webster]
Note: Red is often used in the formation of self-explaining
compounds; as, red-breasted, red-cheeked, red-faced,
red-haired, red-headed, red-skinned, red-tailed,
red-topped, red-whiskered, red-coasted.
[1913 Webster]
Red admiral (Zo["o]l.), a beautiful butterfly (
Vanessa Atalanta
) common in both Europe and America. The front
wings are crossed by a broad orange red band. The larva
feeds on nettles. Called also
Atalanta butterfly, and
nettle butterfly.
Red ant. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) A very small ant (
Myrmica molesta) which often infests
houses.
(b) A larger reddish ant (
Formica sanguinea), native of
Europe and America. It is one of the slave-making
species.
Red antimony (Min.), kermesite. See
Kermes mineral
(b), under
Kermes.
Red ash (Bot.), an American tree (
Fraxinus pubescens),
smaller than the white ash, and less valuable for timber.
--Cray.
Red bass. (Zo["o]l.) See
Redfish
(d) .
Red bay (Bot.), a tree (
Persea Caroliniensis) having the
heartwood red, found in swamps in the Southern United
States.
Red beard (Zo["o]l.), a bright red sponge (
Microciona prolifera
), common on oyster shells and stones. [Local,
U.S.]
Red birch (Bot.), a species of birch (
Betula nigra)
having reddish brown bark, and compact, light-colored
wood. --Gray.
Red blindness. (Med.) See
Daltonism.
Red book, a book containing the names of all the persons in
the service of the state. [Eng.]
Red book of the Exchequer, an ancient record in which are
registered the names of all that held lands per baroniam
in the time of Henry II. --Brande & C.
Red brass, an alloy containing eight parts of copper and
three of zinc.
Red bug. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) A very small mite which in Florida attacks man, and
produces great irritation by its bites.
(b) A red hemipterous insect of the genus
Pyrrhocoris,
especially the European species (
Pyrrhocoris apterus),
which is bright scarlet and lives in clusters on tree
trunks.
(c) See
Cotton stainder, under
Cotton.
Red cedar. (Bot.) An evergreen North American tree
(
Juniperus Virginiana) having a fragrant red-colored
heartwood.
(b) A tree of India and Australia (
Cedrela Toona) having
fragrant reddish wood; -- called also
toon tree in
India.
Red chalk. See under
Chalk.
Red copper (Min.), red oxide of copper; cuprite.
Red coral (Zo["o]l.), the precious coral (
Corallium rubrum
). See Illusts. of
Coral and
Gorgonlacea.
Red cross. The cross of St. George, the national emblem of
the English.
(b) The Geneva cross. See
Geneva convention, and
Geneva cross
, under
Geneva.
Red currant. (Bot.) See
Currant.
Red deer. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) The common stag (
Cervus elaphus), native of the forests
of the temperate parts of Europe and Asia. It is very
similar to the American elk, or wapiti.
(b) The Virginia deer. See
Deer.
Red duck (Zo["o]l.), a European reddish brown duck
(
Fuligula nyroca); -- called also
ferruginous duck.
Red ebony. (Bot.) See
Grenadillo.
Red empress (Zo["o]l.), a butterfly. See
Tortoise shell.
Red fir (Bot.), a coniferous tree (
Pseudotsuga Douglasii)
found from British Columbia to Texas, and highly valued
for its durable timber. The name is sometimes given to
other coniferous trees, as the Norway spruce and the
American
Abies magnifica and
Abies nobilis.
Red fire. (Pyrotech.) See
Blue fire, under
Fire.
Red flag. See under
Flag.
Red fox (Zo["o]l.), the common American fox (
Vulpes fulvus
), which is usually reddish in color.
Red grouse (Zo["o]l.), the Scotch grouse, or ptarmigan. See
under
Ptarmigan.
Red gum, or
Red gum-tree (Bot.), a name given to eight
Australian species of
Eucalyptus (
Eucalyptus amygdalina
,
resinifera, etc.) which yield a reddish gum
resin. See
Eucalyptus.
Red hand (Her.), a left hand appaum['e], fingers erect,
borne on an escutcheon, being the mark of a baronet of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; -- called
also
Badge of Ulster.
Red herring, the common herring dried and smoked.
Red horse. (Zo["o]l.)
(a) Any large American red fresh-water sucker, especially
Moxostoma macrolepidotum and allied species.
(b) See the Note under
Drumfish.
Red lead.
(Chem) See under
Lead, and
Minium.
Red-lead ore. (Min.) Same as
Crocoite.
Red liquor (Dyeing), a solution consisting essentially of
aluminium acetate, used as a mordant in the fixation of
dyestuffs on vegetable fiber; -- so called because used
originally for red dyestuffs. Called also
red mordant.
Red maggot (Zo["o]l.), the larva of the wheat midge.
Red manganese. (Min.) Same as
Rhodochrosite.
Red man, one of the American Indians; -- so called from his
color.
Red maple (Bot.), a species of maple (
Acer rubrum). See
Maple.
Red mite. (Zo["o]l.) See
Red spider, below.
Red mulberry (Bot.), an American mulberry of a dark purple
color (
Morus rubra).
Red mullet (Zo["o]l.), the surmullet. See
Mullet.
Red ocher (Min.), a soft earthy variety of hematite, of a
reddish color.
Red perch (Zo["o]l.), the rosefish.
Red phosphorus. (Chem.) See under
Phosphorus.
Red pine (Bot.), an American species of pine (
Pinus resinosa
); -- so named from its reddish bark.
Red precipitate. See under
Precipitate.
Red Republican (European Politics), originally, one who
maintained extreme republican doctrines in France, --
because a red liberty cap was the badge of the party; an
extreme radical in social reform. [Cant]
Red ribbon, the ribbon of the Order of the Bath in England.
Red sanders. (Bot.) See
Sanders.
Red sandstone. (Geol.) See under
Sandstone.
Red scale (Zo["o]l.), a scale insect (
Aspidiotus aurantii
) very injurious to the orange tree in California
and Australia.
Red silver (Min.), an ore of silver, of a ruby-red or
reddish black color. It includes
proustite, or light red
silver, and
pyrargyrite, or dark red silver.
Red snapper (Zo["o]l.), a large fish (
Lutjanus aya syn.
Lutjanus Blackfordii) abundant in the Gulf of Mexico and
about the Florida reefs.
Red snow, snow colored by a mocroscopic unicellular alga
(
Protococcus nivalis) which produces large patches of
scarlet on the snows of arctic or mountainous regions.
Red softening (Med.) a form of cerebral softening in which
the affected parts are red, -- a condition due either to
infarction or inflammation.
Red spider (Zo["o]l.), a very small web-spinning mite
(
Tetranychus telarius) which infests, and often
destroys, plants of various kinds, especially those
cultivated in houses and conservatories. It feeds mostly
on the under side of the leaves, and causes them to turn
yellow and die. The adult insects are usually pale red.
Called also
red mite.
Red squirrel (Zo["o]l.), the chickaree.
Red tape,
(a) the tape used in public offices for tying up documents,
etc. Hence,
(b) official formality and delay; excessive bureaucratic
paperwork.
Red underwing (Zo["o]l.), any species of noctuid moths
belonging to
Catacola and allied genera. The numerous
species are mostly large and handsomely colored. The under
wings are commonly banded with bright red or orange.
Red water, a disease in cattle, so called from an
appearance like blood in the urine.
[1913 Webster]
Fire
\Fire\ (f[imac]r), n. [OE. fir, fyr, fur AS. f[=y]r; akin
to D. vuur, OS. & OHG. fiur, G. feuer, Icel. f[=y]ri,
f[=u]rr, Gr. py^r, and perh. to L. purus pure, E. pure Cf.
Empyrean,
Pyre.]
1. The evolution of light and heat in the combustion of
bodies; combustion; state of ignition.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The form of fire exhibited in the combustion of gases
in an ascending stream or current is called flame.
Anciently, fire, air, earth, and water were regarded as
the four elements of which all things are composed.
[1913 Webster]
2. Fuel in a state of combustion, as on a hearth, or in a
stove or a furnace.
[1913 Webster]
3. The burning of a house or town; a conflagration.
[1913 Webster]
4. Anything which destroys or affects like fire.
[1913 Webster]
5. Ardor of passion, whether love or hate; excessive warmth;
consuming violence of temper.
[1913 Webster]
he had fire in his temper. --Atterbury.
[1913 Webster]
6. Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral
enthusiasm; capacity for ardor and zeal.
[1913 Webster]
And bless their critic with a poet's fire. --Pope.
[1913 Webster]
7. Splendor; brilliancy; luster; hence, a star.
[1913 Webster]
Stars, hide your fires. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
As in a zodiac
representing the heavenly fires. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
8. Torture by burning; severe trial or affliction.
[1913 Webster]
9. The discharge of firearms; firing; as, the troops were
exposed to a heavy fire.
[1913 Webster]
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. (Zo["o]l.) 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 hydrogen sulfide. --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, a strong alcoholic beverage; -- 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
St. Anthony was supposed to cure miraculously. --Hoblyn.
St. Elmo's fire. See under
Saint Elmo.
To set on fire, to inflame; to kindle.
To take fire, to begin to burn; to fly into a passion.
[1913 Webster]