bonfire
Americannoun
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a large fire built in the open air, for warmth, entertainment, or celebration, to burn leaves, garbage, etc., or as a signal.
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any fire built in the open.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bonfire
1375–1425; late Middle English bone fire, i.e., a fire with bones for fuel
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.
“You can order solid barbecue from Bludso’s, have a drink by a bonfire pit and let the kids play on the playground as planes fly by.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
With all that said, a bonfire composed of burning laptops is a good summation of 2026’s current flavor of anxiety.
From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026
The sky pulsed red with the glow of a distant Guy Fawkes Night bonfire, and a cold, wet fog sat heavily on the town of Inverness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
There are no victims—only a bonfire of prominent narcissists.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 6, 2025
From the direction of the cave I saw it: a thick column, rising fast, as if it came from a bonfire.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
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.
