Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person who stirs up trouble or kindles a revolt.
- n. A piece of burning wood.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A piece of wood kindled or on fire; a piece of any burning substance.
- n. Hence That which or one who sets on fire, literally or figuratively; specifically, an incendiary, in any sense; especially, one who inflames factions, or causes contention and mischief.
- n. In heraldry, specifically, a torch. When ignited it is blazoned as firebrand inflamed. It is represented as a torch or as a pale or pallet raguly couped. In the latter case it is always inflamed at the top.
- Of an incendiary nature.
Wiktionary
- n. An argumentative troublemaker or revolutionary; one who agitates against the current situation.
- n. A torch or other burning stick with a flame at one end.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A piece of burning wood.
- n. One who inflames factions, or causes contention and mischief; an incendiary.
WordNet 3.0
- n. someone who deliberately foments trouble
- n. a piece of wood that has been burned or is burning
Examples
“Well, this peace-loving man of the cloth told about 3,000 of his radical -- sorry, "firebrand" -- followers last Friday to take up jihad, and then he announced that he ` s setting up his own Sharia court.”
“wild, natural, and alien" — "this rebel, this monster, this serpent, this firebrand" is never tame”
Acting 'Natural': Vanity Fair and the UnMasking of Anglo-American Sentiment
“Why is it OK for me to show what the media calls a firebrand radical cleric that is spewing hate against the West, but it somehow or another is controversial for me to show a Muslim denouncing that same cleric?”
“Perhaps this utter indifference to the firebrand is our national strength -- even though it comes from a too-sluggish imagination, a too great imperviousness to new dangers.”
“This man deserves to be called the firebrand of the age in which he lived.”
“I forced the doors, a firebrand was my guide, and among many evidences of blood and guilt, I found -- these!”
Speed the Plough A Comedy, In Five Acts; As Performed At The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden
“For a man whose name is synonymous with the word firebrand, his elevation to the House of Lords after 40 years in the Commons was a remarkably low-key affair.”
“Never known as a firebrand, Ryan has been more introspective in his attempted political comeback after a 2002 loss for governor against Rod Blagojevich.”
“Uma Bharti, often referred to as a firebrand leader of the Saffron brigade, speaks to Zee News. com ` s Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janab.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘firebrand’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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set phasers to...
you name the setting
I've tuned mine to be gentler and kinder
following suit is not mandatory but would be appreciatedcoddle, confuse, flummox, tap, furrow, instigate, invigorate, punnify, logical, must... act... be..., bowdlerise, laughing gas and 435 more...
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Bad Options
words for those who commit particular crimes: i.e., bank robber, arsonist, etc.
liar, cheat, traitor, arsonist, felon, braggard, thief, profiteer, impostor, phony, fraud, culprit and 213 more...
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fire place
place to place 'fire' words
fire eater, field of fire, campfire, backfire, cannon fire, cease-fire, crown fire, center-fire, direct fire, fire pit, cookfire, fire tongs and 111 more...
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Dirty Deeds, Acts & Villainous Arcana
Villains, evildoers, and the wonderful words to describe them.
putsch, internecine, galère, stygian, infernal, opprobrium, anathema, bruit, scurrility, mulct, misanthropic, invective and 102 more...
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EN-HU - important words for a HU inte...
Words only (I left out the expressions) from Geza Kerenyi's EN-HU interpreters' dictionary. Most of them pose some difficulty when interpreted between HU and EN in either or both directions.
abalone, abrasive, abstractionist, abstruse, abysmal, academia, accessibility, accessible, acclimate, accolade, accompanist, achiever and 1469 more...
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Figuratively
Words with definitions containing "figuratively."
spore, plunge, fulminate, rasp, hinge, niche, breathe, approach, hammer, rain, butcher, dazzle and 132 more...
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Especially
Being a list of words which have "especially" in their definitions.
wringing-machine, especially, device, field, scrip, hit, catch, take, buck, flip, effluvium, proselyte and 107 more...
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Specifically
Being a list of words which have "specifically" in their definitions.
recompose, specifically, Dutch, abstinence, discipline, virtue, namely, opening, century, amalgamation, cup, second and 303 more...
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WF - nominal compounds (figurative)
An extensive list I have been working on for quite some time. Feel free to add more of the kind if you miss any.
brainstorming, upside, downside, goldplating, bikeshedding, mudslinging, downgrading, headhunter, streamlining, mainstreaming, gerrymandering, frontloading and 503 more...
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Fire when ready
Words and phrases containing fire.
fire ant, crossfire, fire and brimstone, spitfire, firepower, fireflower, firetower, firetrap, brushfire, fireworks, fire storm, fight fire with fire and 84 more...
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Why I adore this site
A collection of words and phrases that keep me coming back for more.
a priori, why I adore this ..., Chrysotus edwadsi, bletted, casu marzu, darner, melittologist, nabob, omne trinum perfe..., pi-stachio, pinnacle of the b..., pseudomantid and 24 more...
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Wordplayer's Wonderful Words
chaparral, grotesque, knork, newsmonger, thitherwards, fackeltanz, kakistocracy, sforzando, compendium, frump, inquere, phosphene and 100 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, F
felony, frolic, fend, fuselage, farthingale, freewheeling, frigorific, flummery, fancypants, felsitic, flagstone, flageolet and 295 more...
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vmarinelli's Words
canard, gumption, inexorable, insouciance, inviolable, mordant, euphonious, sawbuck, carpe diem, pay dirt, adipocere, profligate and 496 more...
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play words
words for a play
pert, vicissitude, melancholy, vexation, gaud, attestation, renunciation, wax, wrought, sunder, antipodes, reckoning and 236 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for firebrand.
fbharjo incend who sends out? (or incenses outsensed) Mar 21, 2012