firelight

English

Etymology

From Middle English fire liȝt, fyre lyghte, from Old English fȳrlēoht, equivalent to fire +‎ light.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪə.laɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪɚ.laɪt/

Noun

firelight (countable and uncountable, plural firelights)

1. The light of a fire, such as from a campfire or fireplace.
   • 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter XXXI, in Tess of the d'Urbervilles:

     He sat on by the cheerful firelight thrown from a bundle of green ash-sticks laid across the dogs; the sticks snapped pleasantly, and hissed out bubbles of sap from their ends.

   • 1936, Robert E. Howard, chapter 8, in The Hour of the Dragon:

     He glanced continually at the diamond-panes of the casement, gleaming dimly in the firelight, and cocked his ear toward the door, as if half expecting to hear the pad of furtive feet in the corridor without.

   • 1959, Andre Norton, chapter IV, in Voodoo Planet:

     Dane was startled out of the contemplation of his misery to see the medic on his knees before their row of canteens, the vial of water purifier held to the firelight for a closer inspection.

Anagrams

• flightier