backfire - Wordage.info - Free Thesaurus Tool for Word Discovery - Expanded Thesaurus, Reverse Dictionary Lookup

backfire: a miscalculation that recoils on its maker; a fire that is set intentionally in order to slow an approaching forest fire or grassfire by clearing a burned area in its path; a loud noise made by the explosion of fuel in the manifold or exhaust of an internal combustion engine; set a controlled fire to halt an advancing forest to prairie fire; emit a loud noise as a result of undergoing a backfire; "My old car backfires all the time"; come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; "Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble"

fulminate collapse: a salt or ester of fulminic acid; cause to explode violently and with loud noise; come on suddenly and intensely; "the disease fulminated"; criticize severely; "He fulminated against the Republicans' plan to cut Medicare"; "She railed against the bad social policies"

counterrevolution collapse: a revolution whose aim is to reverse the changes introduced by a previous revolution

detonate collapse: burst and release energy as through a violent chemical or physical reaction;"the bomb detonated at noon"; "The Molotov cocktail exploded"

backlash collapse: an adverse reaction to some political or social occurrence; "there was a backlash of intolerance"

kick back collapse: spring back, as from a forceful thrust; "The gun kicked back into my shoulder"; pay a kickback; make an illegal payment

resilience collapse: the physical property of a material that can return to its original shape or position after deformation that does not exceed its elastic limit; an occurrence of rebounding or springing back

boomerang collapse: a curved piece of wood; when properly thrown will return to thrower; return to the initial position from where it came; like a boomerang

kickback collapse: a commercial bribe paid by a seller to a purchasing agent in order to induce the agent to enter into the transaction

counterattack collapse: (chess) an attack that is intended to counter the opponent's advantage in another part of the board; an attack by a defending force against an attacking enemy force in order to regain lost ground or cut off enemy advance units etc.; make a counterattack

rebound collapse: the act of securing possession of the rebounding basketball after a missed shot; a reaction to a crisis or setback or frustration; "he is still on the rebound from his wife's death"

ignition collapse: the act of setting something on fire; the mechanism that ignites the fuel in an internal-combustion engine; the process of initiating combustion or catching fire

combustion collapse: a process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to give heat and light; a state of violent disturbance and excitement; "combustion grew until revolt was unavoidable"

explosion collapse: the act of exploding or bursting something; "the explosion of the firecrackers awoke the children"; "the burst of an atom bomb creates enormous radiation aloft"; a golf shot from a bunker that typically moves sand as well as the golf ball; a sudden outburst; "an explosion of laughter"; "an explosion of rage"; a violent release of energy caused by a chemical or nuclear reaction; the noise caused by an explosion; "the explosion was heard a mile away"; a sudden great increase; "the population explosion"; "the information explosion"

repercussion collapse: a remote or indirect consequence of some action; "his declaration had unforeseen repercussions"; "reverberations of the market crash were felt years later"

blow out collapse: melt, break, or become otherwise unusable; "The lightbulbs blew out"; "The fuse blew"; erupt in an uncontrolled manner; "The oil well blew out"

explode collapse: increase rapidly and in an uncontrolled manner; "The population of India is exploding"; "The island's rodent population irrupted"; burst outward, usually with noise; "The champagne bottle exploded"; be unleashed; emerge with violence or noise; "His anger exploded"; cause to burst with a violent release of energy; "We exploded the nuclear bomb"; show (a theory or claim) to be baseless, or refute and make obsolete; show a violent emotional reaction; "The boss exploded when he heard of the resignation of the secretary"; drive from the stage by noisy disapproval; cause to burst as a result of air pressure; of stop consonants like /p/, /t/, and /k/; destroy by exploding; "The enemy exploded the bridge"

blowout collapse: a sudden malfunction of a part or apparatus; "the right front tire had a blowout"; "as a result of the blowout we lost all the lights"

comeback collapse: return by a celebrity to some previously successful activity

carom collapse: a shot in billiards in which the cue ball contacts one object ball and then the other; make a carom; rebound after hitting; "The car caromed off several lampposts"

go off collapse: be discharged or activated; "the explosive devices went off"; happen in a particular manner; "how did your talk go over?"; stop running, functioning, or operating; "Our power went off during the hurricane"

cannon collapse: lower part of the leg extending from the hock to the fetlock in hoofed mammals; a large artillery gun that is usually on wheels; heavy automatic gun fired from an airplane; (Middle Ages) a cylindrical piece of armor plate to protect the arm; heavy gun fired from a tank; fire a cannon; make a cannon

retort collapse: a vessel where substances are distilled or decomposed by heat; answer back

defense collapse: protection from harm; "sanitation is the best defense against disease"; military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies; "they died in the defense of Stalingrad"; "they were developed for the defense program"; a defendant's answer or plea denying the truth of the charges against him; "he gave evidence for the defense"; the justification for some act or belief; "he offered a persuasive defense of the theory"; an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack; "he joined the defense against invasion"; the defendant and his legal advisors collectively; "the defense called for a mistrial"; (sports) the team that is trying to prevent the other team from scoring; "his teams are always good on defense"

Wordage.info