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Back fire   Listen
noun
back fire, backfire  n.  
1.
A fire started ahead of a forest or prairie fire to burn only against the wind, so that when the two fires meet both must go out for lack of fuel.
2.
(a)
A premature explosion in the cylinder of a gas or oil engine during the exhaust or the compression stroke, tending to drive the piston in a direction reverse to that in which it should travel; also called a knock or ping.
(b)
An explosion in the exhaust passages of an internal combustion engine.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Back fire" Quotes from Famous Books



... have a cleared space between the town and the forest, for one thing, with a lot of brush growing there, if they want to keep that. Then, if a fire starts, they can set the brush afire, and make a back fire, so that the big fire will be checked by the little one. The fire has to have something to feed on, you see, and if it comes to a cleared space that's fairly wide, ...
— The Camp Fire Girls on the March - Bessie King's Test of Friendship • Jane L. Stewart
... solicitor of the Grand Trunk, was a stumbling-block; he declared himself emphatically opposed to control by any 'sacree compagnie americaine.' But Sir Hugh, believing much in money and little in men, resolved to buy his way through. He soon started a backfire in Quebec which brought Cartier to terms. Ontario rivalry was harder to control: D. L. Macpherson and other Toronto men organized the Interoceanic Railway Company to oppose Allan's Canada Pacific Company. Both companies sought charters and aid. Allan {124} pretended to drop his American associates; ...
— The Railway Builders - A Chronicle of Overland Highways • Oscar D. Skelton
... Indian Fakir. So with a sad smile he ordered his motor car and thought that he and his wife had better try the Railway refreshment rooms. When his chauffeur was going to start the engine Mr. Anderson expected that there would be a backfire and the chauffeur would have a dislocated wrist. But there was no accident. The engine started as smoothly as it had never done before. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson went to the Railway refreshment rooms. There they were informed that no tea was available. A dead rat had been found ...
— Indian Ghost Stories - Second Edition • S. Mukerji


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