fire truck

[ fahyuhr truhk ]

noun

1. ladder truck ( def ).
2. (loosely) fire engine.

Word History and Origins

Origin of fire truck¹

First recorded in 1930–35; fire + truck ¹

Example Sentences

A Long Beach fire truck responding to an emergency call fatally struck a person early Tuesday morning, prompting a city investigation into the incident.

From Los Angeles Times

“For 24 hours, we did not get a single plane over here, a single helicopter, a single fire truck. We saw nobody until 45 minutes to an hour before this was happening,” he said of his family’s narrow escape on Tuesday.

From Los Angeles Times

As the firefighters drove back to the station, hundreds of hitchhikers rode along as well: A swarm of bees latched on to the windshield and the doors of the fire truck.

From Los Angeles Times

Due to the Doppler effect, a fire truck's siren gets higher-pitched as it travels closer and sounds lower-pitched as it drives farther away.

From Science Daily

When the fire truck arrived on the scene, students reportedly bashed in its headlights with hammers and urinated on the wheels.

From Slate

Related Words

• fire engine