Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

back fire

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.23 in modern English

Syllables
back- -fire
IPA
19
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A small, controlled fire set in the path of a larger uncontrolled fire, in order to limit the spread of the large fire by removing its fuel.

noun

An explosion produced either by a running internal combustion engine that occurs in the air intake or exhaust system rather than inside the combustion chamber or unburned fuel or hydrocarbons ignited somewhere in the exhaust system.

Etymology

From back + fire.

Inflected Forms

back fires (plural) backfire (alternative) back-fire (alternative)

Questions

What does back fire mean?
A small, controlled fire set in the path of a larger uncontrolled fire, in order to limit the spread of the large fire by removing its fuel.
Where does back fire come from?
From back + fire.

How to pronounce back fire

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “back fire”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “back fire”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “back fire” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.