bonfire

noun

1. A large, controlled outdoor fire lit to celebrate something or as a signal.

   “O thou art a perpetuall triumph, an euerlaſting bonefire light, […]”

   “Theſe vvith the like diſtaſtures, diuulged among the rude multitude, it vvas a vvorld to ſee the face of this nevv VVorld, for in euery ſtreete Bonfires vvere made, in euery Church bels rung, Ditties vvere ſung at euery meeting, and euery man cryed K. Henry, King Henry, […]”

   “And vve particularly remember, that, being at ſome diſtance from London one Night, that the People, upon a very vvell-come Occaſion, teſtified their Joy by numerous Bon-fires; though, by reaſon of the Interpoſition of the Houſes, vve could not ſee the Fires themſelves, yet vve could plainly ſee the Air all enlighten'd over and near the City; vvhich argu'd, that the lucid Beams ſhot upvvards from the Fires, met in the Air with the Corpuſcles opacous enough to reflect them to our Eyes.”

   “Towns have been taken, and battles have been won; the mob has huzza'd round bonefires, the Stentor of the chappel has ſtrained his throat in the gallery, and the Stentor of S——m has deafned his audience from the pulpit.”

   “The bells of all England rang joyously: the gutters ran with ale; and, night after night, the sky five miles round London was reddened by innumerable bonfires.”

2. A fire lit outdoors to burn unwanted items; originally (historical), heretics or other offenders, or banned books; now, generally agricultural or garden waste, or rubbish.

   “I had thought to haue let in ſome of all Profeſſions, that goe the Primroſe way to th'euerlasting Bonfire.”

   “He's mounted on a Hazel Bavin, / A Cropt malignant Baker gave 'em. / And to the largeſt Bonefire, riding / Th' have Roaſted Cook already, and Pride-m.”

   “[M]any of the women threw down their head-dresses in the middle of his [Thomas Conecte's] sermon, and made a bonfire of them within sight of the pulpit.”

3. (figuratively)Something like a bonfire (sense 1 or 2) in heat, destructiveness, ferocity, etc.

   “And one thing I like in you, novv that you ſee / The bonefire of your Ladies ſtate burnt out, / You give it over, doe you not?”

4. (obsolete)A fire lit to cremate a dead body; a funeral pyre.

   “The bodies which the plague had ſlaine were (O moſt wretched caſe) / Not caried forth to buriall now. For why ſuch ſtore there was / That ſcarce the gates were wyde inough for Coffins forth to paſſe. / So eyther lothly on the ground vnburied did they lie, / Or elſe without ſolemnitie were burnt in bonfires hie / No reuerence nor regard was had.”

   “Now wil the Chriſtian miſcreants be glad, / Ringing with ioy their ſuperſtitious belles: / And making bonfires for my ouerthrow. / But ere I die thoſe foule Idolaters / Shall make me bonfires with their filthy bones, […]”

   “For after Tertullian, in the dayes of Minucius it was obviouſly objected upon Chriſtians, that they condemned the practiſe of burning. […] And perhaps not fully diſuſed till Chriſtianity fully eſtabliſhed, vvhich gave the finall extinction to theſe ſepulchrall Bonefires.”

verb

1. (transitive)To destroy (something) by, or as if by, burning on a bonfire; (more generally) to burn or set alight.

   “[L]ike the Christmas joke of snapdragons for children, the very liquor was to be bonfired also, and drank burning.”

   “Sir, there are as many public documents as you could put in this room that must be taken out and bonfired, that have cost millions, that must be burned up, unless this provision of the honorable Senator from Illinois is carried.”

   “And as for ancient history, I think a good share of that could be bonfired. Kings, Emperors, Popes, Doges, Consuls, Priests, Shahs, Pharoahs, and all their quarrels and squabblings, with the times and seasons of the same—what a fine blaze they would make, and it is the only fine thing they could make, as I count it.”

   “From one house they went to another, from that to another, until not one of the Christian[s]' houses was left standing. Everything was deliberately taken outside and bonfired; where the house adjoined others it was destroyed, where it stood alone it was given over to the devouring element.”

   “[L]ibraries to be bonfired on the ground that the care of books competed with the care of babies, […]”

2. (transitive)To fire (pottery) using a bonfire.

   “The pots are formed by the coiling method and bonfired using palm fronds, grass and sometimes dung.”

   “In China, where huge figures have been excavated in recent years at Xian, archaeologists surmise that they were probably bonfired lying horizontally in a pit, or possibly handmade bricks were piled over the sculptures to retain heat; the bricks would have been removed from round the figure when the firing was over.”

   “Fabricated in the coil and pinch manner of old societies, the work was bonfired—but then a unique treatment was used. Before the pot had cooled, hot melted pitch from piñon trees was poured or rubbed in a thin coating over the vessel, inside and out. This unusual technique distinguished the look and aroma of Navajo pottery.”

3. (obsolete, transitive)To start a bonfire in (a place); to light up (a place) with a bonfire.

   “They almost carried him [the king] into the palace on their shoulders; and at night the whole town was illuminated and bonfired.”

4. (intransitive, rare)To make, or celebrate around, a bonfire.

   “[W]hen the news of the battle of Lissa came even to our remote quarter of Ireland, we considered it as a triumph for the cause of Protestantism, and illuminated, and bonfired, and had a sermon at church, and kept the Prussian king's birthday, on which my uncle would get drunk, as indeed on any other occasion.”

   “Seems as if one day we are all bar-b-quing, swimming, jetskiing, bonfiring, and the next thing you know everyone is gone, leaving the house empty (except for the sad pile of damp towels and a refrigerator full of sloppy Jo's).”

   “Before I got out of Josh's car as he dropped me off after Marmalade's that first night, he said they were bonfiring at Shell Shores the next afternoon. He didn't even ask if I wanted to meet them, just assumed I'd be there.”