spitfire

See also: Spitfire

English

Etymology

Deverbal from spit fire.

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

spitfire (plural spitfires)

1. A cannon.
2. A person with a fiery temper, someone easily provoked to anger, especially a woman or girl. [1801]
   • 1801, Peter Viereck, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin., Volume ⅩⅠⅠⅠ, by John Nichols (arranged by Thomas Sheridan), p. 143, published in London

     "―But however provoked, are your scribbling spitfires never to be satisfied?"

   • 1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:

     The young imp had been prepared for immediate flight the instant anyone appeared, but for some reason Won Chou's not very aggressive behest must have conveyed a peculiarly galling insult for its effect was to transform the wary gamin into a bristling little spitfire, who hurled back the accumulated scandal of the quarter.

3. A larva of the spitfire sawfly, Perga affinis.

See also

• shitfire

Further reading

• “spitfire”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• firepits, fire pits