foamite

F4O1A1M3I1T1E1

noun

A foamy substance formerly used for extinguishing fire, and in making fake snow for movies.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

foamite1

nounfoamite (uncountable)

alternative Foamite

  1. uncountableA foamy substance formerly used for extinguishing fire, and in making fake snow for movies.

    A new kind of snow, made from foamite, sugar, soap flakes and water, was produced for filming.

    2022 November 8, Orange Hippo!, A Little Book For Christmas: A Collection of Glad Tidings and Festive Cheer, Welbeck Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 150
    4 more examples

    The following changes relating to foamite fire extinguishers, fire pail, and system were made in the list of equipments approved […]

    1919, General Rules and Regulations Prescribed by the Board of Supervising Inspectors, page 12

    Foamite Firefoam is fatal to fire - even blazing oil! Firefoam is a fire smothering, fire extinguishing foam which covers all burning objects like a blanket. It puts out fire quicker than other extinguishing agents,[…]

    1920, R. B. Foster, J.L. Newman, Petroleum Magazine, page 61

    The tests with foamite extinguishers was conducted in the same manner as the previous test with carbon tetrachloride. Six men equipped with oxygen breathing apparatus and carrying five 2 1/2 - gallon foamite firefoam extinguishers[…]

    1921, Arno Carl Fieldner, Gases Produced in the Use of Carbon Tetrachloride and Foamite Fire Extinguishers in Mines, page 4

    The foamite snow could therefore look soft and fluffy, like a whirling storm, or as wild as a raging blizzard. “Tastes swell, too,” Jimmy Stewart would later tell a publicist.

    2013, Kristi McKim, Cinema as Weather: Stylistic Screens and Atmospheric Change, Routledge, →ISBN, page 142

Foamite2

nounFoamite (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of foamite.
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“foamite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foamite. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foamite,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foamite.

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