fire extinguisher
noun
a portable container, usually filled with special chemicals for putting out a fire.
Showing results for fire extinguisher.
Search instead for
fireextinguisher.
Jump To:
-
fire extinguisher
-
fire-extinguisher
fire-extinguishernouna portable device for extinguishing fires, usually consisting of a canister with a directional nozzle used to direct a spray of water, chemically generated foam, inert gas, or fine powder onto the fire
fire extinguisher
Americannoun
-
fire extinguishers
plural
fire-extinguisher
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fire extinguisher
First recorded in 1830–40
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:
Too late, a UN security guard rushes in with a fire extinguisher.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Her parents made sure she knew how to use a fire extinguisher, which was very heavy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
Among their finds is a fire extinguisher dating from 1942, newspapers from the week after D-Day, and a tin of "whole chicken in jelly" - fortunately empty.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
Small, professionally manufactured barbecues are allowed, as long as they are elevated at least a foot off the ground, placed at least 25 feet from buildings, and accompanied by a nearby fire extinguisher.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025
Although he will see a fire extinguisher with legs.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
Before she started training to be a matador, she had worked in a beauty parlor and then as a typist at a fire-extinguisher factory, and both jobs drove her crazy.
From Slate ● Mar. 29, 2014
One of them, Fred Sullivan, has lifted his Walter Kidde Co. from a burglar-alarm and fire-extinguisher manufacturer with $40 million in sales five years ago to a $350 million conglomerate.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tom and Mr. Baxter spent many days and nights perfecting the fire-extinguisher chemical, and, after repeated tests, Tom felt that he was nearer his goal.
From Tom Swift Among the Fire Fighters, or, Battling with Flames from the Air by Victor [pseud.] Appleton
Then there's the problem of gasolene, fifteen hundred gallons of it—what are the safest ways to tank it and pipe it? and which is the best fire-extinguisher for a gasolene fire?
From The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London
The cutting contempt of Mrs. James W. Colton's remark was fire-extinguisher sufficient for that night.
From The Rise of Roscoe Paine by Joseph Crosby Lincoln
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.
