balefire

[ beyl-fahyuhr ]

noun

1. a large fire in the open air; bonfire.
2. a signal fire; beacon.
3. the fire of a funeral pile.

balefire

/ ˈbeɪlˌfaɪə /

noun

1. a bonfire
2. a beacon fire
3. a funeral pyre

Word History and Origins

Origin of balefire¹

1250–1300; Middle English bal ( e ) fir, equivalent to bale (< Old Norse bāl funeral pyre) + fire fire; replacing Old English bǣlfȳr

Word History and Origins

Origin of balefire¹

C14 bale , from Old English bǣl pyre; related to Old Norse bāl flame, pyre, Sanskrit bhāla brightness

Example Sentences

Highlights in the Act of War unlockable section that players won’t want to miss: Balefire Liege Spitemare             Basandra, Battle Seraph Sunblast Angel Agrus Jos, Wojek Veteran Nobilis of War The Dimir deck is Sky and Scale, and focuses on unblockable creatures and card advantage. 

From Forbes

As balefire answering balefire is unfurled, From mountain-peaks, to tell the foe’s approaches, So ran that battle-clangour round the world, From famous field to field So that reverberated war was tossed; And—in the distance lost— Across the plains of France and hills of Spain It swelled once more to birth, And broke on me again, The voice of England’s glories girdling in the earth.

From Project Gutenberg

He admits to naivet� in visualizing his female adversaries as "thin college ladies with eyeglasses, no-nonsense features, mouths thin as bologna slices, a babe in one arm, a hatchet in the other, gray eyes bright with balefire."

From Time Magazine Archive

A single window in the wing gleamed like a balefire in the rays of the setting sun.

From Project Gutenberg

Nay, even such a birth hath Venus of her own, a second Paris, another balefire for Troy towers reborn.'

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• flare
• lantern
• radar