Overfire

//ˈəʊvəfaɪə// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To create too large a fire in a fireplace, furnace, firebox, etc. transitive

    "I found that the Chapelon steamed almost too freely, because on a strange locomotive and road one usually tends to overfire a little through a natural lack of confidence."

  2. 2
    To fire at a high (or excessively high) temperature. transitive

    "BUBBLES IN GLAZE may be caused by too heavy an application, or by severe underfiring or overfiring. [...] LOSS OF COLOR IN CHINA PAINTING is a result of overfiring or mixing too much medium with the paint. Be careful not to overfire china colors, and if a light shade of a dark color is needed, apply the color very lightly rather than thinning too much."

  3. 3
    Of a cell or group of cells: to fire excessively. transitive

    "Geoffery Schultz, a student of [Ronald] Melzack, has recently conducted a study showing that visual hallucinations need not be caused by psychopathology but may result from the disruption of sensory input among patients suffering eye damage. The neuromatrix, in Melzack's theory, overfires its output messages in the absence of stimulation from external sources (or temping feedback), and creates images – often fantastic or exaggerated – that may be experienced as real."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a boiler, furnace, or other heating device: relating to components or other things that are located above the fire. not-comparable

    "In the interest of smoke abatement, overfire jets are now installed on thousands of commercial and industrial coal-fired furnaces. [...] The overfire jet is a device for providing turbulence and/or overfire air above the fuel bed of hand-fired and stoker-fired furnaces."

Example

More examples

"In the interest of smoke abatement, overfire jets are now installed on thousands of commercial and industrial coal-fired furnaces. [...] The overfire jet is a device for providing turbulence and/or overfire air above the fuel bed of hand-fired and stoker-fired furnaces."

Etymology

From over- (prefix meaning ‘above, higher; excessively’) + fire.

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