Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A person who stirs up trouble or kindles a revolt.
- noun A piece of burning wood.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A piece of wood kindled or on fire; a piece of any burning substance.
- noun 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.
- noun 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A piece of burning wood.
- noun One who inflames factions, or causes contention and mischief; an incendiary.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
argumentative troublemaker orrevolutionary ; one whoagitates against the current situation. - noun A
torch or otherburning stick with aflame at one end.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun someone who deliberately foments trouble
- noun a piece of wood that has been burned or is burning
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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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.
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"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 2006
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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?
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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.
Over the Fireside with Silent Friends Richard King 1913
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This man deserves to be called the firebrand of the age in which he lived.
Henry of Monmouth, Volume 2 Memoirs of Henry the Fifth James Endell Tyler 1820
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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 Thomas Morton 1801
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Never known as a firebrand, Ryan has been more introspective in his attempted political comeback after a 2002 loss for governor against Rod Blagojevich.
chicagotribune.com - 2010
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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.
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Lieberman's comments provoked a furious reaction from the Palestinians, who called the firebrand an "obstacle to peace."
unknown title 2009
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Lieberman's comments provoked a furious reaction from the Palestinians, who called the firebrand an "obstacle to peace."
unknown title 2009
fbharjo commented on the word firebrand
incend who sends out? (or incenses outsensed)
March 21, 2012