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Synonyms

firing

American  
[fahyuhr-ing] / ˈfaɪər ɪŋ /

noun

  1. the act of a person or thing that fires.

  2. material for a fire; fuel.

  3. the act of baking ceramics or glass.

firing British  
/ ˈfaɪərɪŋ /

noun

  1. the process of baking ceramics, etc, in a kiln or furnace

    a second firing

  2. the act of stoking a fire or furnace

  3. a discharge of a firearm

  4. something used as fuel, such as coal or wood

  5. a scorching of plants, as a result of disease, drought, or heat

"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

Other Word Forms

  • unfiring adjective

Etymology

Origin of firing

late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; fire, -ing 1

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.

The job market continues to trudge along with little hiring and little firing.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

Hiring and firing trends do remain muted in the ADP data, a trend that was echoed in the February Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey release on Tuesday.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

Cyrus also answers questions by Cooper candidly throughout the special, firing off rapid quips.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 24, 2026

Justin Crump of intelligence company Sibylline said the key lesson from the attempted strike on Diego Garcia may not be about the capability of the missiles, but of the forces firing them.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026

“You’ve lost your legal basis,” Rick said, “by firing on me. You should have forced me to give you the Voigt-Kampff test. But now it doesn’t matter.”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

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.