HOW TO PRONOUNCE
bonfire
/ˈbɑnˌfaɪɚ/
Press play to hear how to pronounce bonfire.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does bonfire mean?
noun
- A large, controlled outdoor fire lit to celebrate something or as a signal.
- A fire lit outdoors to burn unwanted items; originally (historical), heretics or other offenders, or banned books; now, generally agricultural or garden waste, or rubbish.
- (figuratively) Something like a bonfire (sense 1 or 2) in heat, destructiveness, ferocity, etc.
More meanings (5)
verb
- To destroy (something) by, or as if by, burning on a bonfire; (more generally) to burn or set alight.
- To fire (pottery) using a bonfire.
- (obsolete) To start a bonfire in (a place); to light up (a place) with a bonfire.
- (rare) To make, or celebrate around, a bonfire.
noun
- (obsolete) A fire lit to cremate a dead body; a funeral pyre.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈbɑnˌfaɪɚ/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
The Mayor said they would have a big celebration, and build a tremendous bonfire in the middle of the town.
I always had a bonfire ready, but no doubt the volcanic reputation of the island was taken to account for that.
More book examples (3)
It was red and hot, and now and again it was a little darkened--as it were, the embers of a bonfire smouldering.
“Why, I thought you would be pleased to have a bonfire. Are you not much obliged to me for making you one?”
“Alice, be sad!”—and, at the instant, down would come her tears, quenching all the mirth of those around her like sudden rain upon a bonfire.