Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Fire \Fire\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Fired}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Fring}.]
   1. To set on fire; to kindle; as, to fire a house or chimney;
      to fire a pile.

   2. To subject to intense heat; to bake; to burn in a kiln;
      as, to fire pottery.

   3. To inflame; to irritate, as the passions; as, to fire the
      soul with anger, pride, or revenge.

            Love had fired my mind.               --Dryden.

   4. To animate; to give life or spirit to; as, to fire the
      genius of a young man.

   5. To feed or serve the fire of; as, to fire a boiler.

   6. To light up as if by fire; to illuminate.

            [The sun] fires the proud tops of the eastern pines.
                                                  --Shak.

   7. To cause to explode; as, to fire a torpedo; to disharge;
      as, to fire a musket or cannon; to fire cannon balls,
      rockets, etc.

   8. To drive by fire. [Obs.]

            Till my bad angel fire my good one out. --Shak.

   9. (Far.) To cauterize.

   {To fire up}, to light up the fires of, as of an engine.

Fire \Fire\, v. i.
   1. To take fire; to be kindled; to kindle.

   2. To be irritated or inflamed with passion.

   3. To discharge artillery or firearms; as, they fired on the
      town.

   {To fire up}, to grow irritated or angry. ``He . . . fired
      up, and stood vigorously on his defense.'' --Macaulay.

Fire \Fire\ (f[imac]r), n. [OE. fir, fyr, fur AS. f[=y]r; akin
   to D. vuur, OS. & OHG. fiur, G. feuer, Icel. f[=y]ri,
   f[=u]rr, Gr. py^r, and perh. to L. purus pure, E. pure Cf.
   {Empyrean}, {Pyre}.]
   1. The evolution of light and heat in the combustion of
      bodies; combustion; state of ignition.

   Note: The form of fire exhibited in the combustion of gases
         in an ascending stream or current is called flame.
         Anciently, fire, air, earth, and water were regarded as
         the four elements of which all things are composed.

   2. Fuel in a state of combustion, as on a hearth, or in a
      stove or a furnace.

   3. The burning of a house or town; a conflagration.

   4. Anything which destroys or affects like fire.

   5. Ardor of passion, whether love or hate; excessive warmth;
      consuming violence of temper.

            he had fire in his temper.            --Atterbury.

   6. Liveliness of imagination or fancy; intellectual and moral
      enthusiasm; capacity for ardor and zeal.

            And bless their critic with a poet's fire. --Pope.

   7. Splendor; brilliancy; luster; hence, a star.

            Stars, hide your fires.               --Shak.

            As in a zodiac representing the heavenly fires.
                                                  --Milton.

   8. Torture by burning; severe trial or affliction.

   9. The discharge of firearms; firing; as, the troops were
      exposed to a heavy fire.

   {Blue fire}, {Red fire}, {Green fire} (Pyrotech.),
      compositions of various combustible substances, as
      sulphur, niter, lampblack, etc., the flames of which are
      colored by various metallic salts, as those of antimony,
      strontium, barium, etc.

   {Fire alarm}
      (a) A signal given on the breaking out of a fire.
      (b) An apparatus for giving such an alarm.

   {Fire annihilator}, a machine, device, or preparation to be
      kept at hand for extinguishing fire by smothering it with
      some incombustible vapor or gas, as carbonic acid.

   {Fire balloon}.
      (a) A balloon raised in the air by the buoyancy of air
          heated by a fire placed in the lower part

Source : WordNet®

fire
     n 1: the event of something burning (often destructive); "they
          lost everything in the fire"
     2: the process of combustion of inflammable materials producing
        heat and light and (often) smoke; "fire was one of our
        ancestors' first discoveries" [syn: {flame}, {flaming}]
     3: the act of firing weapons or artillery at an enemy; "hold
        your fire until you can see the whites of their eyes";
        "they retreated in the face of withering enemy fire" [syn:
         {firing}]
     4: a fireplace in which a fire is burning; "they sat by the
        fire and talked"
     5: intense adverse criticism; "Clinton directed his fire at the
        Republican Party"; "the government has come under attack";
        "don't give me any flak" [syn: {attack}, {flak}, {flack},
        {blast}]
     6: feelings of great warmth and intensity; "he spoke with great
        ardor" [syn: {ardor}, {ardour}, {fervor}, {fervour}, {fervency},
         {fervidness}]
     7: once thought to be one of four elements composing the
        universe (Empedocles)
     8: a severe trial; "he went through fire and damnation"

fire
     v 1: start firing a weapon [syn: {open fire}]
     2: cause to go off; "fire a gun"; "fire a bullet" [syn: {discharge}]
     3: bake in a kiln so as to harden; "fire pottery"
     4: terminate the employment of; "The boss fired his secretary
        today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers" [syn:
        {give notice}, {can}, {dismiss}, {give the axe}, {send
        away}, {sack}, {force out}, {give the sack}, {terminate}]
        [ant: {hire}]
     5: go off or discharge; "The gun fired" [syn: {discharge}, {go
        off}]
     6: drive out or away by or as if by fire; "The soldiers were
        fired"; "Surrender fires the cold skepticism"
     7: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses); "arouse
        pity"; "raise a smile"; "evoke sympathy" [syn: {arouse}, {elicit},
         {enkindle}, {kindle}, {evoke}, {raise}, {provoke}]
     8: destroy by fire; "They burned the house and his diaries"
        [syn: {burn}, {burn down}]
     9: provide with fuel; "Oil fires the furnace" [syn: {fuel}]