BACKFIRE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Backfire

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/bˈækfˌaɪr/ Listen

Backfire

noun

The backward escape of gases and unburned gunpowder after a gun is fired. Synonym: blowback.

A loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine.

A fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path.

A miscalculation that recoils on its maker. Synonym: boomerang.

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Etymology of 'Backfire'

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"Backfire" Quotes from Famous Books

... reason for bearing down hard on every form of genuine missionary work. It's the only thing that we Americans can do in Mexico with any hope of avoiding suspicion or of our presence being acceptable to the Mexicans in the long run. We've got to fight the backfire of our American commercialism, and the prejudice which is as real on the Texas side of the river as it is on the other; for if the Mexican thinks in terms of 'gringo,' the American of the Southwest is just as likely to think ...

— John Wesley, Jr. - The Story of an Experiment • Dan B. Brummitt

Words linked to "Backfire" : hap, go on, resound, misreckoning, burn, pass off, detonation, back-blast, burn down, occur, noise, backlash, miscalculation, take place, fall out, explosion, blowup, fire, pass, come about, happen, misestimation, make noise, backblast