What does "flamethrower" mean?

A device that projects a flame for starting fires, and sometimes also additional fuel to help ignition. Used either as a weapon or a tool.

What is a synonym for "flamethrower"?

Common synonyms include: automatic, blowgun, blowpipe, firearm, gat, gun.

Pronounced //ˈfleɪmˌθɹoʊ.ɚ//.

//ˈfleɪmˌθɹoʊ.ɚ// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
A device that projects a flame for starting fires, and sometimes also additional fuel to help ignition. Used either as a weapon or a tool.
2
a weapon that squirts ignited fuel for several yards wordnet
3
Someone who is extremely good at throwing or shooting balls. slang
""We allowed him to kind of orchestrate the whole offense, and he got comfortable early," George said. "He's a flamethrower. Once he gets hot, it's over.""

"This is a flamethrower. It throws flames."

From flame + thrower, calque of German Flammenwerfer.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.