Meanings
plural flamethrowers · alternative flame thrower · alternative flame-thrower
- slangball gamesSomeone who is extremely good at throwing or shooting balls.
"We allowed him to kind of orchestrate the whole offense, and he got comfortable early," George said. "He's a flamethrower. Once he gets hot, it's over."
2017 April 11, “Mike Conley Rewards Grizzlies' Faith With a Career Season”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Jan 20182 more examples
So when we see guys like that open, we gotta give them the ball. Especially Bryn [Forbes], he's a flamethrower. The guy is one of the best shooters I've been around, so to have him going in the game, it's much needed for us. We need him to get going. We need him to hit shots.
2021 June 15, Eric Nehm, quoting Khris Middleton, “How Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton manipulated the Nets' defense in Game 4”, in The Athletic, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2023Unlike steroids, these supposedly illegal substances were not used in secret. There was an understanding that it was in everyone's best interest — pitchers and hitters alike — for today's flamethrowers to have a good grip on the ball.
2021 June 15, Jesse Campigotto, “Baseball has a sticky situation on its hands”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 04 Jul 2023
Origin
- GermanFlammenwerfer
- Englishflamethrower
From flame + thrower, calque of German Flammenwerfer.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans vlamwerper
- vlamwerperdevice that projects a flame
Arabic قَاذِفَة لَهَب
- قَاذِفَة لَهَب (qāḏifat lahab)device that projects a flame
Basque su-jaurtigailu
- su-jaurtigailudevice that projects a flame
Bulgarian огнехвърга́чка
- огнехвърга́чка (ognehvărgáčka)device that projects a flame
Catalan llançaflames
- llançaflamesdevice that projects a flame
Chinese Mandarin 火焰噴射器 /火焰喷射器, 噴火器 /喷火器
- 火焰噴射器 /火焰喷射器 (huǒyàn pēnshèqì)device that projects a flame
- 噴火器 /喷火器 (pēnhuǒqì)device that projects a flame
Czech plamenomet
- plamenometdevice that projects a flame
Danish flammekaster
- flammekasterdevice that projects a flame
Dutch vlammenwerper
- vlammenwerperdevice that projects a flame
Esperanto flamĵetilo
- flamĵetilodevice that projects a flame
Estonian leegiheitja
- leegiheitjadevice that projects a flame
Finnish liekinheitin
- liekinheitindevice that projects a flame
French lance-flamme
- lance-flammedevice that projects a flame
German Flammenwerfer
- Flammenwerferdevice that projects a flame
Greek φλογοβόλο
- φλογοβόλο (flogovólo)device that projects a flame
Hebrew לַהַבְיוֹר
- לַהַבְיוֹר (lahavyór)device that projects a flame
Hungarian lángszóró
- lángszóródevice that projects a flame
Icelandic eldvarpa
- eldvarpadevice that projects a flame
Indonesian pelontar api
- pelontar apidevice that projects a flame
Irish teilgeoir lasrach
- teilgeoir lasrachdevice that projects a flame
Italian lanciafiamme
- lanciafiammedevice that projects a flame
Japanese 火炎放射器
- 火炎放射器 (kaenhōshaki)device that projects a flame
Korean 화염방사기
- 화염방사기 (hwayeombangsagi)device that projects a flame
Latvian liesmu metējs
- liesmu metējsdevice that projects a flame
Lithuanian liepsnosvaidis
- liepsnosvaidisdevice that projects a flame
Norwegian Bokmål flammekaster
- flammekasterdevice that projects a flame
Persian شعلهافکن
- شعلهافکن (šo'le-afkan)device that projects a flame
Polish miotacz ognia, miotacz płomieni
- miotacz ogniadevice that projects a flame
- miotacz płomienidevice that projects a flame
Portuguese lança-chamas
- lança-chamasdevice that projects a flame
Romanian aruncător de flăcări
- aruncător de flăcăridevice that projects a flame
Russian огнемёт
- огнемёт (ognemjót)device that projects a flame
Slovak plameňomet
- plameňometdevice that projects a flame
Spanish lanzallamas, lanzaflamas
- lanzallamasdevice that projects a flame
- lanzaflamasdevice that projects a flame
Swedish eldkastare, eldspruta
- eldkastaredevice that projects a flame
- eldsprutadevice that projects a flame
Tamil தழல் வீசி
- தழல் வீசி (taḻal vīci)device that projects a flame
Turkish alev makinesi
- alev makinesidevice that projects a flame
Ukrainian вогнеме́т
- вогнеме́т (vohnemét)device that projects a flame
Vietnamese súng phun lửa
- súng phun lửadevice that projects a flame
Cite this entry
flamethrower. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flamethrower
“flamethrower.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flamethrower. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flamethrower,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flamethrower.
Source: flamethrower on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.