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Backfire   /bˈækfˌaɪr/   Listen
Backfire

noun
1.
The backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired.  Synonym: blowback.
2.
A loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine.
3.
A fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path.
4.
A miscalculation that recoils on its maker.  Synonym: boomerang.





WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


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"Backfire" Quotes from Famous Books



... or points to an enduring solution of his problem. Suppression, while very often justified and necessary in the flux of human relationship, always carries a social cost which must be liquidated, and also a backfire danger which must be insured against. The human being is born with no innate proclivity to crime or special kind of unpatriotism. Crime and treason are habit-activities, educated into man by environmental influences favorable to ...
— An American Idyll - The Life of Carleton H. Parker • Cornelia Stratton Parker


Words linked to "Backfire" :   fire, detonation, hap, burn, miscalculation, explosion, noise, pass off, resound, fall out, occur, go on, burn down, pass, take place, come about, misreckoning, misestimation, back-blast, backblast, make noise, happen, blowup


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