fire roll

noun

A special drumbeat used to summon men to their quarters in case of fire.

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Meanings

nounfire roll (plural fire rolls)

plural fire rolls

  1. historicalnauticalA special drumbeat used to summon men to their quarters in case of fire.

    […] beat the fire roll. Then I hurried back to the main deck, without even thinking of making a report to the captain. The fire drill had been practiced every day […]

    2000, Ludwig Ritter von Höhnel, Ronald E. Coons, Pascal James Imperato, Over Land and Sea: Memoirs of an Austrian Rear Admiral's Life in Europe and Africa, 1857-1909, page 149
    2 more examples

    The dark, dingy smoke which now began to pervade the deck, left no doubt in the captain's mind as to the correctness of the seaman's suspicions. […] Staunch directed the drummer to beat the 'Fire-roll.'

    1829, Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, page 76

    As soon as he could recall his scattered senses, with his usual presence of mind he desired the "fire-roll" to be beat by the drummer, and sent down to ascertain the extent of the mischief. A strong sulphureous smell pervaded the ship […]

    1838, Frederick Marryat, The King's Own, page 377
Cite this entry
APA

fire roll. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire%20roll

MLA

“fire roll.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire%20roll. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fire roll,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire%20roll.

Source: fire roll on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.