boutefeu

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English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from French boutefeu, from bouter (to thrust, put) + feu (fire).

Noun

boutefeu (plural boutefeus)

  1. (obsolete) An incendiary; an inciter of quarrels.

Translations

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for boutefeu”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From bouter le feu.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /but.fø/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

boutefeu m (plural boutefeux)

  1. linstock (stick for lighting cannon)
  2. (by extension) gunner
  3. fire-starter, arsonist
  4. (figurative) incendiary, firebrand
    • 1972, Georges Brassens (lyrics and music), “Mourir pour des idées”, in Fernande:
      O vous, les boutefeux, ô vous les bons apôtres / Mourez donc les premiers, nous vous cédons le pas / Mais de grâce, morbleu ! laissez vivre les autres !
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
  5. (mining) blaster, shotfirer (person in charge of detonating explosives)

Further reading