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British Dictionary definitions for feu de joie

feu de joie

noun plural feux de joie (fø)
  1. a salute of musketry fired successively by each man in turn along a line and back
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Word Origin

C18: literally: fire of joy
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

Examples from the Web for feu de joie

Historical Examples

  • The salute that announces our departure will be a 'feu-de-joie' to both of us.

    Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. VI, November 1850, Vol. I

    Various

  • Our feu-de-joie was speedily explained, and the men flocked into the inn.

  • Thirteen cannon came pealing up from Fort Putnam, which were followed by a feu-de-joie rolling along the lines.

    The Hudson

    Wallace Bruce

  • I thought it must either be a sort of feu-de-joie, or a funeral, and it turned out to be the latter.

  • The crowd, which had been popping off its feu-de-joie of jokes, steadied into silence to watch the old man climb to his seat.

    Boy Woodburn

    Alfred Ollivant

Word Origin and History for feu de joie

n.

public bonfire, French, literally "fire of joy."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper