Library / English Dictionary

FIRING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of discharging a gun

Synonyms:

discharge; firing; firing off

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("firing" is a kind of...):

shooting; shot (the act of firing a projectile)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "firing"):

gun (the discharge of a firearm as signal or as a salute in military ceremonies)

Derivation:

fire (cause to go off)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The termination of someone's employment (leaving them free to depart)

Synonyms:

discharge; dismissal; dismission; firing; liberation; release; sack; sacking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("firing" is a kind of...):

conclusion; ending; termination (the act of ending something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "firing"):

superannuation (the act of discharging someone because of age (especially to cause someone to retire from service on a pension))

conge; congee (an abrupt and unceremonious dismissal)

removal (dismissal from office)

deactivation; inactivation (breaking up a military unit (by transfers or discharges))

honorable discharge (a discharge from the armed forces with a commendable record)

dishonorable discharge (a discharge from the armed forces for a grave offense (as sabotage or espionage or cowardice or murder))

Section Eight (a discharge from the US Army based on unfitness or character traits deemed undesirable)

Derivation:

fire (terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of setting something on fire

Synonyms:

firing; ignition; inflammation; kindling; lighting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("firing" is a kind of...):

burning; combustion (the act of burning something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy

Example:

they retreated in the face of withering enemy fire

Synonyms:

fire; firing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("firing" is a kind of...):

attack; onrush; onset; onslaught ((military) an offensive against an enemy (using weapons))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "firing"):

grazing fire (fire approximately parallel to the ground; the center of the cone of fire does rise above 1 meter from the ground)

harassing fire (fire designed to disturb the rest of enemy troops and to curtail movement and to lower enemy morale)

indirect fire (fire delivered on a target that is not itself used as the point of aim for the weapons)

interdiction fire (fire directed to an area to prevent the enemy from using that area)

neutralization fire (fire that is delivered in order to render the target ineffective or unusable)

observed fire (fire for which the point of impact (the burst) can be seen by an observer; fire can be adjusted on the basis of the observations)

preparation fire (fire delivered on a target in preparation for an assault)

radar fire (gunfire aimed a target that is being tracked by radar)

registration fire (fire delivered to obtain accurate data for subsequent effective engagement of targets)

scheduled fire (prearranged fire delivered at a predetermined time)

searching fire (fire distributed in depth by successive changes in the elevation of the gun)

supporting fire (fire delivered by supporting units to protect or assist a unit in combat)

suppressive fire (fire on or about a weapon system to degrade its performance below what is needed to fulfill its mission objectives)

unobserved fire (fire for which the point of impact (the bursts) cannot be observed)

artillery fire; cannon fire (fire delivered by artillery)

hostile fire (fire that injures or kills an enemy)

fratricide; friendly fire (fire that injures or kills an ally)

distributed fire (fire dispersed so as to engage effectively an area target)

direct fire (fire delivered on a target that is visible to the person aiming it)

destruction fire (fire delivered for the sole purpose of destroying material objects)

crossfire (fire from two or more points so that the lines of fire cross)

counterpreparation fire (intensive prearranged fire delivered when the immanence of enemy attack is discovered)

counterfire (fire intended to neutralize or destroy enemy weapons)

concentrated fire; massed fire (fire from two or more weapons directed at a single target or area (as fire by batteries of two or more warships))

cover; covering fire (fire that makes it difficult for the enemy to fire on your own individuals or formations)

call fire (fire delivered on a specific target in response to a request from the supported unit)

burst; fusillade; salvo; volley (rapid simultaneous discharge of firearms)

broadside (the simultaneous firing of all the armament on one side of a warship)

barrage; barrage fire; battery; bombardment; shelling (the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area rather than hit a specific target)

antiaircraft fire (firing at enemy aircraft)

Derivation:

fire (start firing a weapon)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

-ing form of the verb fire

Credits

 Context examples: 

Neurons communicate with each other by a process known as firing.

(Neurons absorb and release water when firing, National Institutes of Health)

Their electrical properties enable them to signal much more rapidly than normal pain fibers and to keep firing as long as the hair is being pulled.

(Study uncovers specialized mouse neurons that play a unique role in pain, National Institutes of Health)

“Our results suggest that the firing of a particular group of neurons during REM sleep controls whether the brain remembers new information after a good night’s sleep.”

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

Back then, the TCM thrusters were used in a more continuous firing mode; they had never been used in the brief bursts necessary to orient the spacecraft.

(Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years, NASA)

I am writing this in the light from the furnace door of the steam launch: Lord Godalming is firing up.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

A moment since we were firing, under cover, at an exposed enemy; now it was we who lay uncovered and could not return a blow.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

This leads to a suppression of excessive neuronal firing and spread of seizure activity.

(Fosphenytoin Sodium, NCI Thesaurus)

As we drew nearer, the firing ceased, and we saw that the fight was over.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Once they are firing at full capacity, the thrusters can do no more to keep Cassini stably pointed, and the spacecraft will begin to tumble.

(Cassini Spacecraft Makes Its Final Approach to Saturn, NASA)

This leads to a decrease in burst firing of thalamocortical neurons, which stabilizes the nerve activity in the brain and prevents seizures.

(Ethosuximide, NCI Thesaurus)