firehouse

nounB2+Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,593 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: firehouses

A firehouse is the station where fire engines and crews are based. The local firehouse, outside the firehouse, a firehouse dinner.

It is the American word, and the British say fire station for exactly the same building. The crews live there for whole shifts, which is why the firehouse kitchen is part of the job.

Definitions of firehouse

1nounfirehouseThe station where fire engines and crews are based.B2+
“The whole street turned out when the firehouse held its open day.”

firehouse is a building.

Where it comes from

Old English fyrhus meant a room with a fire in it; the modern compound is simply fire plus house.

Old English
fȳrhūs — a fire-house, a room with a fire; furnace
Middle English
firhous
English, today
firehouse

From Middle English firhous, fyrehous, from Old English fȳrhūs (“a fire-house, a room with a fire; furnace”), equivalent to fire + house. Compare Icelandic eldhús (“kitchen”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

firehouse in the wild

Originally bred as a hunting dog, it was also used as a carriage dog by firefighters in the days of horse-drawn firehouse carriages.
Dalmatian dog
A likely reason Huntington Ave was chosen was due to it being regarded as one of the busiest firehouses in Boston.
Firehouse USA: Boston
Built in 1907, the firehouse housed Tonopah's volunteer fire department.
Tonopah Volunteer Firehouse and Gymnasium
The firehouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 20, 1982.
Tonopah Volunteer Firehouse and Gymnasium
Firehouse, Engine Company 261 and Ladder Company 116 is a New York City Fire Department firehouse at 37-20 29th Street in Long Island City, Queens, New York City.
Firehouse, Engine Company 261 and Ladder Company 116

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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