fire engine
12
1.6
- noun
- /ˈfaɪər ˈɛnʤɪn/
:
camión de bomberos
- A bright red, gorgeous fire engine is moving very slowly down the street.
And when I got home, there was kind of fire engine in there outside the house.
- And when I got home, there was kind of fire engine in there outside the house.
- All vehicles are related, bicycles, cars, fire engines, tanks.
- And I go a red fire engine with a yellow ladder and a silver bell.
- We do that for fire engines and we do that for trains because trains can't break.
Examples
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Camera whip pans down the street as fire engines arrive.
Fiction book (2001) -
This was the first fire engine in South America and it was built in Portland, OR in the USA.
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And when I got home, there was kind of fire engine in there outside the house.
-
I was on the fire engine.
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How many times I told you to keep away from the fire engine?
-
The street is blocked off, with fire engines and police cars.
Fiction book (2000) -
Brian looks across the fireground, sees his brother walking back to the fire engine.
Fiction book (1991) -
It's not uncommon to see fire engines and ambulances on the beach.
-
On the road, fire engines gleamed scarlet, with the brightness that only fire engines have.
Fiction book (1990) -
As the flames lashed 30 feet into the dawn sky, a fire engine tore up to the house.
Synonyms
30
1.8
A big vehicle that carries firefighters and tools to put out fires
4
1.4
A large truck that carries firefighters and water to a fire
2
5.5
A fire engine with a strong pump that supplies water to fight fires
1
3.7
A fire engine with a long ladder that stretches to reach high places and rescue people
A fire engine with a long ladder that can extend to reach high places for fighting fires or rescuing people
How Equipped
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound is transparently built from 'fire' (the phenomenon) + 'engine' (a machine), following a common noun+noun composition where the second noun names the implement or vehicle associated with the first. This pattern is cross-linguistically common and a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer a machine/vehicle used for firefighting.
Etymology
Fire engine comes from old machines that used fire to make steam and an engine to pump water onto flames. That's why today fire engine means the large vehicle that carries firefighters and tools 'to put out fires'.