fireman

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

fire +‎ -man

Pronunciation

• Audio (UK)

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Noun

fireman (plural firemen)

1. (firefighting) Someone (implied male) who is skilled in the work of fighting fire.
2. (rail transport) A man who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a railroad locomotive.
   • ca. 1913 The wreck of Old 97 [ballad, (US, Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains)], verse 3:

     He looked around his cab at his black greasy fireman, saying 'shovel on a little more coal, and when we cross that White Oak Mountain, you can watch Old 97 roll'.

3. (rail transport) By extension of the above, an assistant on any locomotive, whether steam-powered or not.
4. (baseball) A relief pitcher.

Usage notes

Historically meant only a man, now used to refer to female firefighters as well. In modern usage, the gender-inclusive term firefighter is generally preferred.

Antonyms

• firewoman

Hypernyms

• firefighter
• smoke eater

Related terms

terms related to fireman

fire truck fire engine fire extinguisher fire hose

fire station fire hydrant fireplug

Translations

someone skilled in fighting fire — see firefighter

male skilled in fighting fire

• Finnish: palomies (fi)
• Greek: πυροσβέστης (el) m (pyrosvéstis)
• Hungarian: tűzoltó (hu)
• Italian: pompiere (it)
• Macedonian: пожарникар (mk) (požárnikár) m
• Norwegian: brannmann (no) m

• Portuguese: bombeiro (pt) m
• Russian: пожарный (ru) (požárnyj) m 
• Scottish Gaelic: fear-smàlaidh (gd) m
• Swedish: brandman (sv) c
• Volapük: (♂♀) lefilapoldan (vo), (♂) lefilahipoldan (vo)

man who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler

• Esperanto: hejtisto (eo)
• Finnish: lämmittäjä (fi)
• German: Heizer (de)
• Hungarian: fűtő (hu)
• Macedonian: ложач (mk) (lóžač) m

• Norwegian: fyrbøter (no) m
• Russian: кочегар (ru) (kočegár) m 
• Serbo-Croatian: ložač (sh) m
• Swedish: eldare (sv) c

assistant on any locomotive

• Finnish: lämmittäjä (fi)
• Hungarian: fűtő (hu)

• Serbo-Croatian: ložač (sh) m

pitcher

• Finnish: syöttäjä (fi)

• Hungarian: dobó (hu), dobójátékos (hu)

See also

• tillerman