fire extinguisher
noun
a portable container, usually filled with special chemicals for putting out a fire.
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fire extinguisher
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fire-extinguisher
fire-extinguishernouna portable device for extinguishing fires, usually consisting of a canister with a directional nozzle used to direct a spray of water, chemically generated foam, inert gas, or fine powder onto the fire
fire extinguisher
Americannoun
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fire extinguishers
plural
fire-extinguisher
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fire extinguisher
First recorded in 1830–40
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.
See Examples For:
Keeping a fire extinguisher on hand provides peace of mind in case of emergency, especially if you drive performance cars.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Too late, a UN security guard rushes in with a fire extinguisher.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Her parents made sure she knew how to use a fire extinguisher, which was very heavy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
He said he came back with a fire extinguisher and tried to fight the fire.
From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026
The width of the crowd knocked the fire extinguisher from the wall in the stairwell.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Before she started training to be a matador, she had worked in a beauty parlor and then as a typist at a fire-extinguisher factory, and both jobs drove her crazy.
From Slate ● Mar. 29, 2014
One of them, Fred Sullivan, has lifted his Walter Kidde Co. from a burglar-alarm and fire-extinguisher manufacturer with $40 million in sales five years ago to a $350 million conglomerate.
From Time Magazine Archive
The machine reminded me at first glance of a fire-extinguisher; then of some appliance used by miners to hold a supply of oxygen.
From The Car of Destiny by Armand Both
He had ransacked the premises for every hand fire-extinguisher he could find, had brought them to the burning buildings and, with fine optimism, was now spraying their contents on the edges of the blaze.
From The Monk of Hambleton by Armstrong Livingston
Then there's the problem of gasolene, fifteen hundred gallons of it—what are the safest ways to tank it and pipe it? and which is the best fire-extinguisher for a gasolene fire?
From The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London
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