backfire.
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 the wrong direction.
Meaning & usage
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 the wrong direction.
An explosion in the exhaust passages of an internal combustion engine.
An explosion in other equipment.
Alternative form of back fire.
Where this word comes from
From back + fire.
Of a gun, cannon, Bunsen burner, etc., to fire in the opposite direction, for example due to an obstruction in the barrel.
Of a reciprocating engine, to experience a premature ignition of fuel or an ignition of exhaust gases, making a popping sound.
To fail in a manner that brings down further misfortune.
His attempt to make money by importing luxury cars backfired horribly when fuel prices tripled.
Her plan backfired on her.
To set a back fire (small, controlled fire to limit spread of a larger fire).
Where this word comes from
From back + fire.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.