fire-side

A form of fireside — The area near a domestic fire or hearth.

Meanings

nounfire-side (plural fire-sides)

plural fire-sides

  1. archaicArchaic form of fireside.

    I am here as Justice of Quorum; / And in my cabin's fore end, / I've a bed for a friend, / With a clean fire-side and a jorum.

    1820, “The Farmer”, in The Harp of Orpheus; Being a Collection of the Best English, Scotch, and Irish Songs, Catches, Glees, Duets, Trios, Quartettos, &c. &c. Also, a Selection of Toasts and Sentiments, Derby, Derbyshire: Printed by and for H. Mozley, Brook-Street, →OCLC, page 212
    5 more examples

    And I even question whether any tender virgin, who was accidentally and unaccountably enriched with a bantling, would save her character at parlour fire-sides and evening tea-parties, by ascribing the phenomenon to a swan, a shower of gold, or a river god.

    1809, Washington Irving (as Dietrich Knickerbocker), A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty

    She had a great deal to insinuate in her own praise as to general attention to the interest and comfort of his family, much exertion and many sacrifices to glance at in the form of hurried walks and sudden removals from her own fire-side, and many excellent hints of distrust and economy to Lady Bertram and Edmund to detail, whereby a most considerable saving had always arisen, and more than one bad servant been detected.

    1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter II, in Mansfield Park: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 31

    And now, behold, with the first imagination of danger, or, if you will, the first mighty and terrific trial of your courage, you shrink away, and are content to be handed down as men who had not strength enough to endure cold and peril; and so, poor souls, they were chilly and returned to their warm fire-sides.

    1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VII, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume III, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 169

    "[…]However," she added, wiping her eyes, "that's the price o' your lodgings, as I said; but ye'll get a clean bed, and a canny fire-side, and I'll tend you wi' a' my power to make you cosie and comfortable."

    1833, Andrew Picken, The Black Watch, volume 1, published 1835, page 167

    1837, Charles Lamb, Letter to Mr. Manning dated 25 December, 1815, in The Letters of Charles Lamb, London: Edward Moxon, Volume 2, p. 18, You have no turkeys; you would not desecrate the festival by offering up a withered Chinese bantam, instead of the savoury grand Norfolcian holocaust, that smokes all around my nostrils at the moment, from a thousand fire-sides.

Cite this entry
APA

fire-side. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire-side

MLA

“fire-side.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire-side. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fire-side,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fire-side.

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