fireplay

F4I1R1E1P3L1A1Y4

noun

Experimental play with fire, as by lighting matches.

Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounfireplay (uncountable)
  1. uncountableExperimental play with fire, as by lighting matches.

    At least one study suggests that if you take a population of boys between kindergarten and fourth grade, 60 percent of them have committed unsupervised fireplay, which is to say that fireplay is a common and absolutely normal part of human development.

    2007 November 1, Michael Parrish, “10-Year-Old With Matches Started a California Wildfire”, in New York Times
  2. uncountableBDSMAny of various sexual practices involving fire, such as setting fire to alcohol against the skin.

    Many years I attended a BDSM conference where a well-known and respected BDSM master presented a demonstration of fireplay as part of the planned programme.

    2009, Peter Masters, This Curious Human Phenomenon

Origin

From fire + play.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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