noun, plural fire·men.
- a person employed to extinguish or prevent fires; firefighter.
- a person employed to tend fires; stoker.
- Railroads.
- a person employed to fire and lubricate a steam locomotive.
- a person employed to assist the engineer of a diesel or electric locomotive.
- U.S. Navy. an enlisted person assigned to the care and operation of a ship’s machinery.
- British Mining. fire boss.
- Baseball. relief pitcher.
noun plural -men
- a man who fights fires, usually a public employee or trained volunteerGender-neutral form: firefighter
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- (on steam locomotives) the man who stokes the fire and controls the injectors feeding water to the boiler
- (on diesel and electric locomotives) the driver’s assistant
- a man who tends furnaces; stoker
- Also called: deputy a mine official responsible for safety precautionsUS equivalent: fire boss
- US navy a junior rating who works on marine engineering equipment
- informal any employee who is dispatched to deal with trouble at short notice
late 14c., “tender of a fire,” from fire (n.) + man (n.). As “person hired to put out (rather than tend) fires” it is attested from 1714.