Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The box (sometimes made of copper) in which the fire in a locomotive is placed, surrounded on the outside by an iron casing which is separated from the inner fire-box by a space of about three inches all round, filled with water, to prevent the radiation of heat.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • A spluttering candle showed the one occupant, a man, down on his knees and blowing lustily into the fire-box of a smoky Yukon stove.

    CHAPTER 3 2010

  • "I pray your excellency to listen to me," said Yi Chin Ho, squatting on his hams by the bedside and lighting his pipe from the fire-box.

    A NOSE FOR THE KING 2010

  • The smoke, smothered in its exit, drove back through the fire-box door, carrying with it the pungent odor of green spruce.

    SIWASH 2010

  • Tommy pulled the flaps together hastily, and returned to his tearful task at the fire-box.

    SIWASH 2010

  • He poured briquettes from the bag into the fire-box of the barbecue and then poured the whole bottleful of lighter fuel over the briquettes.

    They didn’t read Pitchfork or Stereogum or Gorilla vs. Bear or Hipster Runoff Josh Spilker 2010

  • Light from the fire-box splashed the under side of the trailing smoke.

    Main Street 2004

  • She visioned the fire-box: flames turned to lemon and metallic gold as the coal-dust sifted over them; thin twisty flutters of purple, ghost flames which gave no light, slipping up between the dark banked coals.

    Main Street 2004

  • I had a compass in my pocket, a small telescope, a double-barrelled pistol, a knife, and a fire-box and matches.

    The Wreck of the Golden Mary, by Charles Dickens 2004

  • At six, when the light faltered in as through ground glass and bleakly identified the chairs as gray rectangles, she heard his step on the porch; heard him at the furnace: the rattle of shaking the grate, the slow grinding removal of ashes, the shovel thrust into the coal-bin, the abrupt clatter of the coal as it flew into the fire-box, the fussy regulation of drafts-the daily sounds of a

    Main Street 2004

  • Its driving wheels had been blown upward, taking away the side of the fire-box.

    Seven Pillars of Wisdom Thomas Edward 2003

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