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firebreak

[fahyuh r-breyk]
noun
  1. a strip of plowed or cleared land made to check the spread of a prairie or forest fire.
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Origin of firebreak

First recorded in 1890–95; fire + break
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for firebreak

Historical Examples of firebreak

  • If there were poles, it might be the clearing for a telegraph line to a signal station; if it was broader, a firebreak.

    In the Track of the Trades

    Lewis R. Freeman

  • She crossed the firebreak and rode up over the ridge calling her cheery "Hoo-hoo-hoo!"

    Land of the Burnt Thigh

    Edith Eudora Kohl

British Dictionary definitions for firebreak

firebreak

noun
  1. Also: fireguard, fire line a strip of open land in a forest or on a prairie, to arrest the advance of a fire
  2. a measure taken to arrest the advance of anything dangerous or harmful
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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