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open fireplace

open fireplace

1 3.0
A space in a wall where you make an open fire to heat or cook in a room
  • noun
  • /ˈoʊpən ˈfaɪrˌpleɪs/
translation icon : chimenea abierta
  • He had spent half of last night sweeping the dirt floor until there wasn't a piece of dust left, but it still didn't change what it was: a slave's shack with no windows, an open fireplace, a straw bed in the corner, and a crudely built table with stumps for seats in the middle of the single room.
  • an open fireplace is inefficient

Examples

  • During the blizzard, we stayed indoors, enjoying hot chocolate by the open fireplace as the snow piled up outside.

  • "We've even got our own place to sunbathe!" There was an open fireplace, stacked with logs.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Once it became too cold to do that, we slept on the kitchen floor in front of an open fireplace.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Macondo has a cozy feel with its simple wooden tables and open fireplace.

    Blog text (32)
  • When she was Hannah's age, she cooked in an open fireplace, baking her potatoes in the ashes and simmering.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Behind an overburdened writing desk, the open fireplace could be seen—an impressive feat of the imagination reminiscent of a wall clock whose cabinet had been put to new uses.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • In the winter, we often gather around the open fireplace to keep warm and enjoy each other's company.

  • The open fireplace in the living room adds a charming touch and provides cozy heat during cold evenings.

Synonyms

fireplace
vsopen fireplace
190 1.0

An open space in a wall where you make a fire to heat a room or for decoration

is the specific wall recess open to a room for heating or cooking
ingle
vsopen fireplace
  • Archaic
9.9

A fireplace in an old house where people burn wood to warm the room

is the modern term for the same wall recess used for heating or cooking

How Warm

wood stove
7 2.0
open fireplace
1 3.0
decorative
49 3.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

open + fireplace

The meaning is directly compositional: 'fireplace' denotes the area for a fire and 'open' specifies that it is not enclosed or covered, so a learner who knows both words can derive the combined sense. This adjective + noun pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, making the phrase immediately understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The noun open fireplace comes from old houses that had a space in the wall where logs burned with no door. The word open shows the fire was not shut inside a stove and fireplace is simply the place for the fire, so it means 'a place in the room where you can see and feel a real fire for heat or cooking'.