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Glite Dictionary
fire iron

fire iron

1 6.0
A metal tool like a poker or tongs that you use to tend a fire in a fireplace
  • noun
  • /ˈfaɪər ˈaɪərn/
translation icon : herramienta de chimenea
  • During winter, the fire iron was essential for tending to the cozy fire in the living room.

Examples

  • The old fire iron set included a poker, tongs, and a shovel for the hearth.

  • He used the fire iron to poke the burning logs in the fireplace.

  • Well, personally, I think I favor the fire iron.

    101 Dalmatians (1996)

  • When the heavily fringed lamp sprang into life, I saw that I'd tripped on a set of fire irons mysteriously placed in the middle of the room.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

poker
vsfire iron
42 4.2

A metal rod with a handle for moving logs in a fire

is the general category for tools used to tend a hearth
stove poker
vsfire iron
6.7

A metal rod with a handle for moving burning wood in a stove or fireplace

is the general category for tools used at hearths and stoves
fire hook
vsfire iron
7.7

A metal rod with a handle used to move burning logs or stir hot embers

is the general tool group covering various shapes for manipulating fires
fire tongs
vsfire iron
6.9

A metal tool with two arms used to pick up and move hot coals in a fire

is the broader name for tools used to handle and tend burning fuel
coal tongs
vsfire iron
6.8

A tool with two long arms for picking up hot coals in a fireplace

is the wider category for implements used to manage fires and coals

How Heatproof

fire iron
1 6.0

Surface Forms

fire iron singular
fire irons plural

Morphology

fire + iron

The meaning 'a metal implement used at a fireplace' is directly derivable from combining 'fire' (the burning process/place) with 'iron' (a metal object), following the common noun+noun pattern where the first element specifies purpose or association. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and should be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Fire iron comes from the simple image of metal tools used by a hearth: fire shows where the tool is used and iron names the metal it was made from, like a poker, tongs, or shovel. So, fire iron means 'a metal tool for tending a fire'.