fire-eater

American  

[fahyuhr-ee-ter] / ˈfaɪərˌi tər /

noun

1. an entertainer who pretends to eat fire.

2. an easily provoked, belligerent person.

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

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fire-eater British  

noun

1. a performer who simulates the swallowing of fire

2. a belligerent person

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Other Word Forms

• fire-eating adjective

Etymology

Origin of fire-eater

First recorded in 1665–75

Example Sentences

The papers were full of stories about these Southern “fire-eaters,” as they called themselves.

From Literature

At these multi-weekend events, artisans sold jewelry, candles and clothing; musicians played lutes and flutes; and fire-eaters, jugglers, acrobats and jousters performed feats of medieval derring-do.

From Washington Post

You pass a fire-eater elevated on a striped platform.

From Literature

As before there are chapter-length portraits of key players: the Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner, Preston Brooks, the South Carolina fire-eater who caned him, and Thaddeus Stevens, radical Republican and implacable foe of slavery.

From The Guardian

The fire-eater, amused, yelled at Salvador to catch his little brother before he ran south all the way to Mexico City.

From Literature