fireman
Americannoun
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a person employed to extinguish or prevent fires; firefighter.
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a person employed to tend fires; stoker.
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Railroads.
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a person employed to fire and lubricate a steam locomotive.
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a person employed to assist the engineer of a diesel or electric locomotive.
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U.S. Navy. an enlisted person assigned to the care and operation of a ship's machinery.
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British Mining. fire boss.
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Baseball. relief pitcher.
noun
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Gender-neutral form: firefighter. a man who fights fires, usually a public employee or trained volunteer
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(on steam locomotives) the man who stokes the fire and controls the injectors feeding water to the boiler
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(on diesel and electric locomotives) the driver's assistant
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a man who tends furnaces; stoker
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US equivalent: fire boss. Also called: deputy. a mine official responsible for safety precautions
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navy a junior rating who works on marine engineering equipment
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informal any employee who is dispatched to deal with trouble at short notice
Gender
See -man.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fireman
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:
"I am profoundly grieved at the loss of this dedicated and gallant fireman," Andy Yeung, director of the fire service said in a statement.
From BBC ● Nov. 26, 2025
Replete with Constructivist angles, it’s an unsentimental account of a woman who tells her fireman husband he isn’t the father of their newborn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Once again, he is both arsonist and fireman.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
These strangers, ranging from 22 to 70 years in age, with jobs that included fireman, nurse, journalist, prison warden and soldier, complied with Dominique Pelicot's instructions.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2024
“They’s another’n comin'!” Then, handing me over to the conductor, he and the fireman sprinted toward the engine, way up the tracks.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
Volunteer firemen is a tradition as old as the nation, but fewer young people are signing up to do the job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
In the Nashville airport, he found himself alongside a group of firemen heading to Oklahoma to help with the rescue.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
"Most of the firemen know the area so well and they know how to manage it."
From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2025
He had somehow found the firemen himself and led them to the flames which they quickly doused.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2025
Two hundred firemen and six hundred policemen swarmed into the building and went up in the elevators as high as they could go.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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.
