firebug

[ fahyuhr-buhg ]
See synonyms for firebug on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.

Origin of firebug

1
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; fire + bug1

Words Nearby firebug

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use firebug in a sentence

  • I've been over that thing time and time again, and I've felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes.

    Cap'n Eri | Joseph Crosby Lincoln
  • The car was still there, but there was no sign of the firebug.

    Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol | Henry Harley Arnold
  • I saw one of them enter the old barn and wondered if the firebug was armed.

    Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol | Henry Harley Arnold
  • As he flashed by, the firebug raised his head and shook his fist at the plane.

    Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol | Henry Harley Arnold
  • If she did, shes getting to be a regular little firebug, said Chet.

    The Girls of Central High | Gertrude W. Morrison

British Dictionary definitions for firebug

firebug

/ (ˈfaɪəˌbʌɡ) /


noun
  1. informal a person who deliberately sets fire to property

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012