Definitions for wildfire
ˈwaɪldˌfaɪərwild·fire

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wildfirenoun

   a raging and rapidly spreading conflagration

WiktionaryRate this definition:2.6 / 5 votes

1. wildfirenoun

   A rapidly spreading fire, often occurring in wildland areas, that is out of control.

2. wildfirenoun

   Greek fire, Byzantine fire.

3. wildfirenoun

   A spreading disease of the skin, particularly erysipelas.

4. wildfirenoun

   Something that acts quickly and uncontrollably.

5. Etymology: Wild + fire. In the Middle Ages, the term referred to Greek fire.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wildfirenoun

   A composition of inflammable materials, easy to take fire, and hard to be extinguished.

   Etymology: wild and fire.

   When thou rann’st up Gadshill in the night to catch my horse, I did think thou had’st been an ignis fatuus, or a ball of wildfire. William Shakespeare.

   Though brimstone, pitch, wildfire, burn equally, and are hard to quench, yet they make no such firy wind as gunpowder. Francis Bacon, Nat. Hist.

   Yet shall it in his boiling stomach turn
   To bitter poison, and like wildfire burn;
   He shall cast up the wealth by him devour’d. George Sandys.

   No matter in the world so proper to write with as wildfire, as no characters can be more legible than those which are read by their own light. Joseph Addison, Guard.

   In flames, like Semele’s, be brought to bed,
   While opening hell spouts wildfire at your head. Alexander Pope.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Wildfire

   A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire(in Australia), desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, prairie fire, vegetation fire, or veld fire. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire.Wildfires are distinct from beneficial human usage of wildland fire, called controlled burning, although controlled burns can turn into wildfires. Fossil charcoal indicates that wildfires began soon after the appearance of terrestrial plants approximately 419 million years ago during the Silurian period. Earth's carbon-rich vegetation, seasonally dry climates, atmospheric oxygen, and widespread lightning and volcanic ignitions create favorable conditions for fires. The occurrence of wildfires throughout the history of terrestrial life invites conjecture that fire must have had pronounced evolutionary effects on most ecosystems' flora and fauna.Wildfires are often classified by characteristics like cause of ignition, physical properties, combustible material present, and the effect of weather on the fire. Wildfire behavior and severity result from a combination of factors such as available fuels, physical setting, and weather. Climatic cycles that include wet periods that create substantial fuels and then are followed by drought and heat often proceed severe wildfires. These cycles have intensified by climate change.Naturally occurring wildfires may have beneficial effects on native vegetation, animals, and ecosystems that have evolved with fire. Many plant species depend on the effects of fire for growth and reproduction. Some natural forest are dependent on wildfire. High-severity wildfire may create complex early seral forest habitat (also called "snag forest habitat"), which may have higher species richness and diversity than an unburned old forest. Alternatively, wildfires in ecosystems where wildfire is uncommon or where non-native vegetation has encroached may have strongly negative ecological effects.Human societies can be severely impacted by fires. Effects include the direct health impacts of smoke and fire, destruction of property(especially in wildland–urban interfaces) economic and ecosystem services losses, and contamination of water and soil. There are also significant indirect or second-order societal impacts from wildfire, such as demands on utilities to prevent power transmission equipment from becoming ignition sources, and the cancelation or nonrenewal of homeowners insurance for residents living in wildfire-prone areas.Wildfires are among the most common forms of natural disaster in some regions, including Siberia, California, and Australia. Areas with Mediterranean climates or in the taiga biome are particularly susceptible. At a global level, human practices have made the impacts of wildfire worse, with a doubling in land area burned by wildfires compared to natural levels. Since records started at the beginning of the 20th century, wildfires have steadily declined.Humans have impacted wildfire through climate change, land-use change, and wildfire suppression.The increase in severity of fires creates a positive feedback loop by releasing naturally sequestered carbon back into the atmosphere, increasing the atmosphere's greenhouse effect thereby contributing to climate change. Modern forest management often engages in prescribed burns to mitigate risk and promote natural forest cycles.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wildfire

   A wildfire, also known as a forest fire, bushfire, or grass fire, is an uncontrolled fire that rapidly spreads across vegetation and forest areas fueled by flammable materials like dry leaves, wood, grass, and wind. It can be caused by multiple factors, including human activities such as camping fires and discarded cigarettes, or naturally through volcanic activity, lightning strikes, or spontaneous combustion.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:3.7 / 3 votes

1. Wildfirenoun

   a composition of inflammable materials, which, kindled, is very hard to quench; Greek fire

2. Wildfirenoun

   an old name for erysipelas

3. Wildfirenoun

   a disease of sheep, attended with inflammation of the skin

4. Wildfirenoun

   a sort of lightning unaccompanied by thunder

WikidataRate this definition:5.0 / 2 votes

1. Wildfire

   A wildfire is an uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, peat fire, vegetation fire, and veldfire may be used to describe the same phenomenon depending on the type of vegetation being burned. A wildfire differs from other fires by its extensive size, the speed at which it can spread out from its original source, its potential to change direction unexpectedly, and its ability to jump gaps such as roads, rivers and fire breaks. Wildfires are characterized in terms of the cause of ignition, their physical properties such as speed of propagation, the combustible material present, and the effect of weather on the fire. Wildfires are a common occurrence in Australia especially during the long hot summers usually experienced in the southern regions such as Victoria, Australia. Due to Australia's hot and dry climate, wildfires pose a great risk to life and infrastructure during all times of the year, though mostly throughout the hotter months of summer and spring. In the United States, there are typically between 60,000 and 80,000 wildfires that occur each year, burning 3 million to 10 million acres of land depending on the year. Fossil records and human history contain accounts of wildfires, as wildfires can occur in periodic intervals. Wildfires can cause extensive damage, both to property and human life, but they also have various beneficial effects on wilderness areas. Some plant species depend on the effects of fire for growth and reproduction, although large wildfires may also have negative ecological effects.

Dictionary of Nautical TermsRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. wildfire

   A pyrotechnical preparation burning with great fierceness, whether under water or not; it is analogous to the ancient Greek fire, and is composed mainly of sulphur, naphtha, and pitch.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. wildfire

   Song lyrics by wildfire -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by wildfire on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Conflagration

How to pronounce wildfire?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say wildfire in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of wildfire in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of wildfire in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of wildfire in a Sentence

1. Aaron Bernstein:

   When there's a wildfire or hurricane, it's easy for people to see the devastation in front of their eyes.

2. Daniel Swain:

   The interesting piece here is that the effect of daily summer temperatures on fire appears to be non-linear, meaning that each additional degree of warming has a greater influence than the last, this is in line with other work suggesting that wildfire size and severity is increasing in a non-linear fashion in response to the increasing' vapor pressure deficit' — a measure of atmospheric' thirstiness' that is directly related to both humidity and temperature.

3. Manenji Mangundu:

   The situation in densely populated camps such as Barsalogho with poor healthcare is the perfect storm for a devastating outbreak. Facilities are shared, shelters are shared. If one case is reported in the site, it can spread like wildfire.

4. Forest Supervisor James Melonas:

   Under current conditions, one abandoned campfire could cause a catastrophic wildfire, and we are not willing to take that chance with the natural and cultural resources under our protection and care.

5. John Kilduff:

   Between the Canadian wildfire and the regime change in Saudi Arabia, there is a pronounced amount of uncertainty now, in commodities, you buy uncertainty.

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References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=wildfire
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wildfire
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=wildfire
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wildfire
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=wildfire
8. ^ Dictionary of Nautical Terms
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26000/pg26000-images.html#:~:text=wildfire