Hypertext Webster Gateway: "backfire"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Back-fire \Back"-fire`\, v. i.
1. (Engin.) To have or experience a back fire or back fires;
-- said of an internal-combustion engine.
2. Of a Bunsen or similar air-fed burner, to light so that
the flame proceeds from the internal gas jet instead of
from the external jet of mixed gas and air. --
{Back"-fir`ing}, n.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
backfire
n 1: a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold
or exhaust of an internal combustion engine
2: a miscalculation that recoils on its maker [syn: {boomerang}]
v 1: have an unexpected and undesired effect; "Your comments may
backfire and cause you a lot of trouble" [syn: {backlash}]
2: emit a loud noise as a result of undergoing a backfire, as
of cars
3: set a controlled fire to halt an advancing forest to prairie
fire
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