firecracker

[ fahyuhr-krak-er ]

/ ˈfaɪərˌkræk ər /

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See synonyms for: firecracker / firecrackers on Thesaurus.com

noun

a paper or cardboard cylinder filled with an explosive and having a fuse, for discharging to make a noise, as during a celebration.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of firecracker

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30; fire + cracker

Words nearby firecracker

fire cherry, fire chief, fire clay, fire company, fire control, firecracker, firecracker flower, firecrest, fire-cure, fire curtain, firedamp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use firecracker in a sentence

Cease’s slider — a darting and disorienting and freshly zoomy thing, like a fishing line with a firecracker at the end of it — sniped into the bottom of the strike zone, drawing puzzled looks and panicked swings.
Why Some MLB Pitchers Are Abandoning The Fastball|Robert O'Connell|September 20, 2022|FiveThirtyEight
Over the decades, the traditions of Juneteenth ripened into larger gatherings in public parks, with barbecue picnics and firecrackers and street parades with brass bands.
Juneteenth celebrates just one of the United States’ 20 emancipation days – and the history of how emancipated people were kept unfree needs to be remembered, too|LGBTQ-Editor|June 21, 2022|No Straight News
In her new novel, she draws on similar themes of women’s alliance and survival, this time rendered through 9-year-old Swiv and her firecracker grandmother.
The 34 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2021|Arianna Rebolini|August 30, 2021|Time
A demonstrator lobbed a string of firecrackers toward police.
Protesters demonstrate outside D.C. police station for second night after Karon Hylton’s death|Clarence Williams, Samantha Schmidt, Tom Jackman|October 29, 2020|Washington Post

The convergence of these signs lit Morris up like a firecracker.
Powerful Congressman Writes About ‘Fleshy Breasts’|Asawin Suebsaeng|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They saw a larger societal danger lurking, one more ominous than any homemade firecracker.
How Not to Blow Yourself Up on July 4th|Kent Sepkowitz|July 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
How the hell did some damned kid throw a firecracker through the screen?
The Man Oswald First Tried to Kill Before JFK|Bill Minutaglio, Steven L. Davis|October 3, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This has the potential to be the real firecracker game the World Cup has been waiting for.
World Cup Primer|Joshua Robinson|June 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST
I had to set off a pretty loud firecracker to wake those Sound & Cape fellows up.
Blow The Man Down|Holman Day
Because when the sky-cracker gets high enough in the air the firecracker part of it will go off with a bang, and he'll be killed.
Uncle Wiggily's Travels|Howard R. Garis
Each of us lighted a firecracker and held it with the fuse sputtering and sizzling, until they were almost opposite.
The Boy Scouts of Bob's Hill|Charles Pierce Burton
Shortly thereafter the first shot went off and it sounded to me as if it were a firecracker.
Warren Commission (7 of 26): Hearings Vol. VII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
There was a tradition that somebody had once held a firecracker in his hand too long and had been badly hurt by it.
Walter Pieterse|Multatuli

British Dictionary definitions for firecracker

firecracker

/ (ˈfaɪəˌkrækə) /

noun

a small cardboard container filled with explosive powder and lit by a fuse

adjective

impressively energetica firecracker start to the race

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

firecracker

Origin of firecracker

Words nearby firecracker

Words related to firecracker

How to use firecracker in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for firecracker