fire sale

American  

noun

1. a special sale of merchandise actually or supposedly damaged by fire.

2. a sale, as of assets, at reduced prices, in order to raise money quickly.

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fire sale British  

noun

1. a sale of goods at reduced prices after a fire at a shop or factory

2. 1. any instance of offering goods or assets at greatly reduced prices to ensure a quick sale

   2. ( as modifier )

      fire-sale prices

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Other Word Forms

• fire-sale
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of fire sale

An Americanism dating back to 1890–95

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fire sale

Or wants to serve a term in retirement, but not at the cost of an asset fire sale?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The thinking is that those provisions protect the fund’s remaining investors from a rush to the exits that would force managers to sell underlying securities at fire sale prices.

From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026

Even if I distributed the proceeds from a fire sale to them, our staff would struggle.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 10, 2026

Communities across the UK are paying for spiralling levels of council borrowing with a fire sale of publicly owned facilities, a BBC study has found.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2025

A few days later there was a fire sale by one of the merchants, and I got the job of ringing the auction bell.

From The Iron Puddler My life in the rolling mills and what came of it by Davis, James J. (James John)