needfire

[ need-fahyuh r ]

/ ˈnidˌfaɪər /

noun

luminescence, as of rotted or decayed wood.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?

Question 1 of 10

decorum

the act of or need for making up one's mind.

dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.

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Origin of needfire

First recorded in 1525–35; need + fire

Words nearby needfire

nedette, nee, need, need like a hole in the head, needed, needfire, needful, needham, neediness, needle, needle bath

Example sentences from the Web for needfire

The term “needfire” seems to be a corruption of “neatfire,” neat cattle being an old and common term.
Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland|Daniel Scott
Once a year the needfire was so lighted, and all the hearths of the village were rekindled from the blaze thus obtained.
Early Britain|Grant Allen
I never heard of the use of the needfire in the Marsh, though it was, I believe, used on the wolds not many miles off.
Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I.|Sir James George Frazer
As thou knowest, it seemed to me that I was watching two sparkles from the extinguished Needfire wheel.
The Dove in the Eagle's Nest|Charlotte M. Yonge

The last time the “needfire” was used in the Keswick neighbourhood, Mr. William Wilson says, was in 1841.
Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland|Daniel Scott

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