Meanings
nounback fire (plural back fires)
plural back fires · alternative backfire · alternative back-fire
- 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.
- 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.
Origin
Translations
Catalan contrafoc, deflagració d'escapament
- contrafoccontrolled fire
- deflagració d'escapamentexplosion of a combustion engine
Chinese Mandarin 逆火
- 逆火 (nìhuǒ)explosion of a combustion engine
French contre-feu
- contre-feucontrolled fire
German Fehlzündung
- Fehlzündungexplosion of a combustion engine
Greek αντεμπρησμός, αντιπυρκαγιά
- αντεμπρησμός (antemprismós)controlled fire
- αντιπυρκαγιά (antipyrkagiá)controlled fire
- αντιπυρά (antipyrá)controlled fire
Italian back-fire
- back-fireexplosion of a combustion engine
Polish kontrolowany pożar, przerwa w zapłonie gaźnika
- kontrolowany pożarcontrolled fire
- przerwa w zapłonie gaźnikaexplosion of a combustion engine
Russian встре́чный пал
- встре́чный пал (vstréčnyj pal)controlled fire
Spanish contrafuego, deflagración de escape
- contrafuegocontrolled fire
- deflagración de escapeexplosion of a combustion engine
Swedish moteld, bakslag
- moteldcontrolled fire
- bakslagexplosion of a combustion engine
Cite this entry
APA
back fire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20fire
MLA
“back fire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20fire. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “back fire,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/back%20fire.
Source: back fire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.