firebreak
Americannoun
noun
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Also: fireguard. fire line. a strip of open land in a forest or on a prairie, to arrest the advance of a fire
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a measure taken to arrest the advance of anything dangerous or harmful
Etymology
Origin of firebreak
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
French firefighters were "on the offensive" insisted commander Eric Pitault, standing in the middle of a 50-metre-wide, 25-kilometre-long firebreak cut with the help of civilian volunteers on the Cap Ferret peninsula.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Ota testified he wasn’t concerned about covering up the firebreak as there was already live brush on each side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 27, 2025
In Caerphilly, Wales, St Martin's School closed temporarily for a "firebreak" period after more than 250 pupils and staff fell ill with a "flu-like illness".
From BBC ● Dec. 9, 2025
In the 1980s, the city developed a mile-long set of 13-story buildings called the Shirahige Higashi—an urban firebreak that also manages to provide housing for 7,000 families.
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2025
Hatsue went out into the desert wind and returned with a few scraps of tar paper she’d found blown up against a roll of barbed wire along a firebreak.
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
