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Glite Dictionary
💥 To fail to fire 💥 Failed explosion ❌ A failed attempt ❌ To fail
to misfire

to misfire

4 6.3
To fail to fire when a gun or engine is used
  • verb
  • /ˈmɪsˌfaɪər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fallar
  • The soldier's rifle misfired during the training exercise, causing a brief moment of panic.
  • the gun misfired
  • the pistol misfired
  • the weapon misfired

It the, the at least the current consensus is that it is a rocket that misfired or misfired or or failed or whatever.

Examples

  • I mean, this gun misfired multiple times and still was allowed on set.

  • So what happens if one of those Hamas rockets misfires and falls on their beloved Dome of the Rock mosque?

    Blog text (29)

  • Mr. President, we told the press that it was an advanced weapons test that misfired.

    Pixels (2015)

  • "The next winter, going after duck, his gun misfired.

    Radio Days (1987)

  • Their biggest headache will be to find a solution for their regularly misfiring forward line.

    Blog text (29)

  • They worry, however, that one major piece of artillery under study could misfire and hit otherwise law-abiding taxpayers.

    Academic text (2003)

  • The misfired round ejected and spun away.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • His shot had misfired.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I had a dead bead on old Running Buffalo, and my Sharp .50 caliber misfired.

    McLintock! (1963)

  • 10,000 acres of wooded residential land were scorched in an instant when a laser cannon aboard the strategic defense peace platform misfired today during routine start-up tests.

    RoboCop (1987)

Antonyms

to work
∞ 1.0

To function correctly, as a machine or device

to discharge
16 5.8

Fire a gun or other weapon

How Well

to work
∞ 1.0
to misfire
  • Specialized
4 6.3
to jam
13 4.4
to fizzle
  • Informal
27 5.6

Surface Forms

misfire infinitive
misfired past
misfired past participle
misfiring present participle
misfires third person singular

Morphology

misfire = fire (transparent) = mis + fire

Productive prefixation mis- + fire yields the verb meaning 'to fail to discharge', which is straightforward for learners.

Etymology

Misfire combines mis- 'wrong' and fire 'to shoot or make explode'. So to misfire (verb) is when a gun, engine, or explosive is set off but does not work as it should.