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fireman

American  
[fahyuhr-muhn] / ˈfaɪər mən /

noun

plural

firemen

  1. a person employed to extinguish or prevent fires; firefighter.

  2. a person employed to tend fires; stoker.

  3. Railroads.

    1. a person employed to fire and lubricate a steam locomotive.

    2. a person employed to assist the engineer of a diesel or electric locomotive.

  4. U.S. Navy. an enlisted person assigned to the care and operation of a ship's machinery.

  5. British Mining. fire boss.

  6. Baseball. relief pitcher.

fireman British  
/ ˈfaɪəmən /

noun

  1. Gender-neutral form: firefighter.  a man who fights fires, usually a public employee or trained volunteer

    1. (on steam locomotives) the man who stokes the fire and controls the injectors feeding water to the boiler

    2. (on diesel and electric locomotives) the driver's assistant

  3. a man who tends furnaces; stoker

  4. US equivalent: fire boss.  Also called: deputy.  a mine official responsible for safety precautions

  5. navy a junior rating who works on marine engineering equipment

  6. informal any employee who is dispatched to deal with trouble at short notice

"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

Gender

See -man.

Etymology

Origin of fireman

1620–30 for sense “gunner”; fire + -man

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.

"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

My stepfather worked as a furnace fireman for the New York City Housing Authority, fixing and maintaining the huge boilers that heated the Red Hook Housing Projects where we lived then.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride

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.