What does wildfire mean?
Definitions for wildfire
ˈwaɪldˌfaɪərwild·fire
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word wildfire.
Princeton's WordNet
wildfirenoun
a raging and rapidly spreading conflagration
Wiktionary
wildfirenoun
A rapidly spreading fire, often occurring in wildland areas, that is out of control.
wildfirenoun
Greek fire, Byzantine fire.
wildfirenoun
A spreading disease of the skin, particularly erysipelas.
wildfirenoun
Something that acts quickly and uncontrollably.
Etymology: Wild + fire. In the Middle Ages, the term referred to Greek fire.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
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.
Wikipedia
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.
ChatGPT
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 Dictionary
Wildfirenoun
a composition of inflammable materials, which, kindled, is very hard to quench; Greek fire
Wildfirenoun
an old name for erysipelas
Wildfirenoun
a disease of sheep, attended with inflammation of the skin
Wildfirenoun
a sort of lightning unaccompanied by thunder
Wikidata
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 Terms
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 Resources
wildfire
Song lyrics by wildfire -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by wildfire on the Lyrics.com website.
Matched Categories
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of wildfire in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of wildfire in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5
Examples of wildfire in a Sentence
You don’t just throw resources at a wildfire, it’s like a battle -- you have to think what will be the most effective.
We went into it (the holiday campaign) very much knowing that commerce and revenue coming through TikTok wouldn't be the goal, the goal was specifically to engage with a platform that's just growing like wildfire.
The right's populist ideas are spreading like wildfire in the CSU and it's extremely dangerous.
Stronger storms, worsening droughts, increased flooding, and longer wildfire seasons are putting our national parks and natural treasures at risk.
This underscores the idea that we all have a role to play in wildfire prevention.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for wildfire
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- حريق هائلArabic
- үртBashkir
- Waldbrand, LauffeuerGerman
- forsta incendioEsperanto
- [[incendio]] [[forestal]], fuego incontrolado, fuego fatuoSpanish
- آتشسوزیPersian
- kulovalkea, kulo, maastopaloFinnish
- feu de forêt, une traînée de poudre, FdFFrench
- futótűzHungarian
- kebakaranIndonesian
- wildfire, incendio boschivoItalian
- אש בשדה קוציםHebrew
- 森林火災, 山林火災, 山火事Japanese
- 산불Korean
- wildfireLatin
- pożarPolish
- incêndio florestalPortuguese
- лесной пожар, пожарRussian
- löpeldSwedish
- దావాగ్నిTelugu
- chất cháyVietnamese
Get even more translations for wildfire »
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"wildfire." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 24 Oct. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/wildfire>.
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