Word Type

Noun

Verb

The word "backfire" can be used as noun and verb.

Word Relationships

Derived Terms

backfire effect

Etymologically Related To

back fire

Inflected/Variant Forms

back fire

Context

firefighting

Broader Terms (Hypernyms)

blowup burn burn down come about detonation explosion fall out fire fire go on hap happen make noise miscalculation misestimation misreckoning noise occur pass pass off resound take place

Type Of (IsA)

explosion fire miscalculation

Manner Of

burn happen make noise

Receives Action

set on purpose

Related Terms

barrel cylinder engine explosion internal combustion engine premature

Synonym Network

blowback knock

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