fire-eater

[ fahyuhr-ee-ter ]

noun

1. an entertainer who pretends to eat fire.
2. an easily provoked, belligerent person.
3. U.S. History. an early and extreme Southern advocate of secession before the Civil War.

fire-eater

noun

1. a performer who simulates the swallowing of fire
2. a belligerent person

Derived Forms

• ˈfire-ˌeating, nounadjective

Other Words From

• fire-eating adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fire-eater¹

First recorded in 1665–75

Example Sentences

At these multi-weekend events, artisans sold jewelry, candles and clothing; musicians played lutes and flutes; and fire-eaters, jugglers, acrobats and jousters performed feats of medieval derring-do.

From Washington Post

You pass a fire-eater elevated on a striped platform.

From Literature

As before there are chapter-length portraits of key players: the Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner, Preston Brooks, the South Carolina fire-eater who caned him, and Thaddeus Stevens, radical Republican and implacable foe of slavery.

From The Guardian

The fire-eater, amused, yelled at Salvador to catch his little brother before he ran south all the way to Mexico City.

From Literature

The theatre said the fire-eater was able to walk out of the building to the ambulance.

From BBC