Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

counterfire

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.04 in modern English

Syllables: coun-ter-fire
IPA

16

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

3

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The firing of weapons in response.

Uncountable

noun

A smaller fire lit at some distance from a wildfire, in order to develop a firebreak.

Countable

verb

To light a smaller fire at some distance from a wildfire, in order to develop a firebreak.

Intransitive verb

Example Sentences

"The Nationalist Defense Ministry claimed Communist guns on the mainland coast were silenced by effective counterfire. By Nationalist count, the Reds fired 444 shells, of which 162 hit Matsu Island, 112 Peikantang Island and 170 landed in the sea."
"The second attack vehicle had difficulty navigating around the debris from the first attack, and was met with defensive counterfire by security personnel assigned to the hotel."

Etymology

From counter- + fire.

Word Breakdown

Prefix: counter

Usage

Inflected Forms

counterfires (plural) counterfires (present, singular) counterfiring (participle, present) counterfired (participle, past) counterfired (past)

Phrases

fight fire with fire

Frequently Paired Words

fight fire with fire

Questions

What does counterfire mean?: The firing of weapons in response.
Where does counterfire come from?: From counter- + fire.

How to pronounce counterfire

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