fire-breathing

alternative fire breathing · alternative firebreathing

1. not comparablesuch as a dragonThat expels fire from the mouth and nostrils.

   a fire-breathing dragon

   3 more examples

   Medea for the loue of Iaſon, taught him how to tame the fire breathing braſſ feeted Bulls, and kill the mighty dragon that kept the golden fleece[.]

   1632, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Henry Cryps, page 548

   No man could shake a finger at Beowulf. All the days of his life he had sought the path of right, escaped traps, killed foes, and ruled fairly. Now it was time for him to stand up to the fire-breathing worm.

   1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 42

   Then the bane of that people, the fire-breathing dragon, was mad to attack for a third time.

   1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 84

2. literarynot comparableThat emits or belches forth fire.

   The deadly fire-breathing Cannon roar, Sending destructive Heralds thro' the Field.

   1706, Charles Johnson, Ramelies: A Poem, London: Ben Bragg, page 8

3. idiomaticnot comparablecaustic, vitriolic or scathing.

   a fire-breathing rant