Fireman

Quick meaning: Fireman is a noun meaning (firefighting) Someone (especially male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire.

Meaning

(firefighting) Someone (especially male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire.

More Meanings

1. (rail transport, by extension) An assistant on any locomotive, whether steam-powered or not.
2. (baseball) A relief pitcher (reflecting the figurative analogy of rescuing the situation).
3. (mining, historical) A safety inspector in coal mines.
4. (rail transport, nautical) A person (originally a man) who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a railroad locomotive or steamship.

Example Sentences

(the latter is informal)

The fireman's job was about to get very interesting; they had just run out of coal!

No grass grew under a train when the engineer let Fireman McLash take the throttle.

For firemen everywhere rescuing cats from trees has been as much a part of the job as tackling blazing buildings.

Word Forms

• firemen

Synonyms for fireman

Depending on context, synonyms include firefighter, stoker, bakehead, forefighter, reliever, fire-eater.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include stoker, fire-eater, reliever, firefighter, firehouse, driver.

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