0%

fight fire with fire

fight fire with fire
F f

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [fahyt fahyuh r with, with fahyuh r]
    • /faɪt faɪər wɪθ, wɪð faɪər/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [fahyt fahyuh r with, with fahyuh r]
    • /faɪt faɪər wɪθ, wɪð faɪər/

Definitions of fight fire with fire words

  • noun fight fire with fire a state, process, or instance of combustion in which fuel or other material is ignited and combined with oxygen, giving off light, heat, and flame. 1
  • noun fight fire with fire a burning mass of material, as on a hearth or in a furnace. 1
  • noun fight fire with fire the destructive burning of a building, town, forest, etc.; conflagration. 1
  • noun fight fire with fire heat used for cooking, especially the lighted burner of a stove: Put the kettle on the fire. 1
  • noun fight fire with fire Greek fire. 1
  • noun fight fire with fire flashing light; luminous appearance. 1
See all 55 definitions of fight fire with fire

Information block about the term

Origin of fight fire with fire

First appearance:

before 900
One of the 4% oldest English words
before 900; (noun) Middle English; Old English fȳr; cognate with Old Norse fūrr, German Feuer, Greek pŷr (see pyro-); (v.) Middle English firen to kindle, inflame, derivative of the noun

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Fight fire with fire

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Fight fire with fire

fight fire with fire popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 100% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

fight fire with fire usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

See also

Matching words

Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?