Word a Day
misfire
What does misfire mean?
misfire (verb): to fail to discharge properly.
Definition: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where does misfire come from?
Either a univerbation of earlier miss fire, or the compound mis- + fire (or possibly a confluence of both).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Test yourself: do you know “misfire”?
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What does “misfire” mean?
to puncture; to break through
Not quite: that's what pierce means.
to fail to discharge properly
Right! That's what “misfire” means.
remove body hair with a razor
Not quite: that's what shave means.
to hide, put out of sight etc
Not quite: that's what obscure means.
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