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.

RELATED WORDS

conflagration, beacon, pyre

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

bonfire

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of bonfire

Examples from the Web for bonfire

British Dictionary definitions for bonfire

bonfire

noun

Word Origin for bonfire