bonfire

[ bon-fahyuh r ]

/ ˈbɒnˌfaɪər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bonfire ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a large fire built in the open air, for warmth, entertainment, or celebration, to burn leaves, garbage, etc., or as a signal.

any fire built in the open.

Nearby words

bones of digits, boneset, bonesetter, boneshaker, boneyard, bonfire, bong, bongo, bonham, bonheur, bonheur-du-jour

Origin of bonfire

1375–1425; late Middle English bone fire, i.e., a fire with bones for fuel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bonfire

Marc Wortman is the author, among other books, of The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta.
Atlanta’s Fall Foretold The End Of Civil War Bloodshed|Marc Wortman|September 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In one corner, a pile of Apple iPads and Google glasses are torched in a bonfire.
Pope Francis Declares Consumers and Capitalists Need to Help the Poor|Daniel Gross|November 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Everyone wanted to know the outcome of in this tropical version of Bonfire of the Vanities.
The Brutal Fall of Brazilian Billionaire Eike Batista|Mac Margolis|June 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Some have said that about my book, The Bonfire, about Atlanta in the Civil War.
25 Years of ‘Battle Cry of Freedom’: An Interview With James M. McPherson|Marc Wortman|June 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST

But Bonfire of the Vanities this is not, and that is unfortunate, though the cultural references might be spot on.
This Week’s Hot Reads: May 28, 2013|Jen Vafidis|May 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
We have very nearly burnt the Church of England over our heads, in our hurry to make a bonfire of the Pope.
Literary and General Lectures and Essays|Charles Kingsley
Should there be a bonfire in the quad, it is he who comes out and frantically attempts to put it out.
Oxford|Frederick Douglas How
That cursed baronet is getting ahead of me, but I think I am entitled to a bonfire as well as he is.
Willy Reilly|William Carleton
Around the bonfire a few impromptu remarks on Business Cycles will be called for.
Where the Blue Begins|Christopher Morley
It was but a bonfire in appearance, yet it marred both the landscape and the meditative rest of the gazer.
Alfgar the Dane or the Second Chronicle of Aescendune|A. D. Crake

British Dictionary definitions for bonfire

bonfire

/ (ˈbɒnˌfaɪə) /

noun

a large outdoor fire

Word Origin for bonfire

C15: alteration (through influence of French bon good) of bone-fire; from the use of bones as fuel

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