fire-eater

[ fahyuh r-ee-ter ]

/ ˈfaɪərˌi tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fire-eater ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an entertainer who pretends to eat fire.

an easily provoked, belligerent person.

U.S. History. an early and extreme Southern advocate of secession before the Civil War.

Nearby words

fire up, fire walking, fire watcher, fire-and-brimstone, fire-cure, fire-eater, fire-eaters, fire-engine red, fire-extinguisher, fire-plow, fire-polish

Origin of fire-eater

First recorded in 1665–75

Related forms

fire-eat·ing, adjective, noun

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

Examples from the Web for fire-eater

Dave and the crowd trailed away from Erma and headed for Senor Alcala, the fire-eater at the end of the row.
Charley de Milo|Laurence Mark Janifer AKA Larry M. Harris
By-the-bye, that fire-eater, Paul de Cassagnac, has not followed the example of his brother Imperial journalists.
Diary of the Besieged Resident in Paris|Henry Labouchre
To make a better deal for the fire-eater's phosphates than his fuddling old trustee here was going to close with.
Lady Baltimore|Owen Wister
Let anyone dare make fun of the old usurer when he had such a fire-eater to protect him!
The Torrent|Vicente Blasco Ibaez

Diggins, the fire-eater, hoped earnestly for the former course, and laid confident bets that it would be.
The Leicestershires beyond Baghdad|Edward John Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for fire-eater

fire-eater

noun

a performer who simulates the swallowing of fire

a belligerent person

Derived Forms

fire-eating, noun, adjective

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