burnfire

B3U1R1N1F4I1R1E1

noun

A bonfire.

Scrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounburnfire (plural burnfires)

plural burnfires

  1. nonstandardA bonfire.

    […] the town of Owegea was made a burnfire of to Grace our Meating our General Course from Tiago to Choconant […]

    1887, New York (State). Secretary's Office, Frederick Cook, Journals of the military expedition of Major General John Sullivan
    1 more example

    It may ha' been wicked, but there 'twas, an' the thought kep' arter me, till all I could think of was the chist; an' byme-by I says to Mary Ellen, one mornin', ' Le's open it to-day an' make a burnfire !'

    1896, Harper's new monthly magazine, volume 93

Origin

An alteration (due to its association with burn) of Early Modern English boonfire, bondfire, bounfire (“bonfire”). More at bonfire.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

burnfire. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burnfire

MLA

“burnfire.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burnfire. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burnfire,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burnfire.

Source: burnfire on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.