bonfire
- noun
- /ˈbɑnˌfaɪər/
- My gang of friends is building bonfires in the meadow on the fifteenth day of the New Year.
- light a bonfire
They did these crazy like activities at night with bonfires.
- They did these crazy like activities at night with bonfires.
- We do New Year's and oh God Guy Fawkes Night where we burn a terrorist on a bonfire.
- And to warm my feet, because it was a cold winter night, I put my feet too close to the bonfire fire and the the bottom of my Ugg boots melted.
- And then it's nearly Bonfire Night and then it's nearly Christmas.
- And our story begins where she goes to this bonfire that is marking the start of Swan season, and this stranger shows up and it is a teenage boy.
- I like this like bonfire party and you are the best smelling girl there.
Examples
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The villagers gathered around the bonfire to share stories and enjoy the warmth.
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They lit an enormous bonfire and they're throwing on all they can lay their hands on.
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No, I just got me a little bonfire in the back.
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We have a lot of work to do before our bonfire session tonight.
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In my January dream, I light a huge bonfire in the middle of a field of snow.
Fiction book (1990) -
I came here to learn how to build the perfect bonfire.
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By late afternoon, a huge bonfire, with people dancing around it, was burning in the street.
Academic text (2001) -
An enormous bonfire burned right behind me.
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There's a bonfire in the garden next door.
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Below me, I see a circle of teenagers standing around a small bonfire, warming their hands.
Fiction book (1994)
Synonyms
A large outdoor fire that people light to signal or to celebrate
A fire lit on a hill or tower to signal people far away
A fire kept burning at night to signal people far away
Compounds
A yearly UK event on November 5 when people light bonfires and watch fireworks to remember the Gunpowder Plot
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
The word bonfire comes from old English parts bone and fire, meaning 'bone' and 'fire', because people once burned bones in large outdoor fires. That's why today a bonfire means a big outdoor fire used for celebration or for burning things.