[f. as prec. + -ER1.] One who or something which fires, in senses of the vb.
1. One who sets anything on fire; also, one who superintends the ‘firing’ of glass.
1882. Pall Mall G., 29 June, 2/1. On the hills the ‘firers’ are at work, burning off the scrub. Ibid. (1890), 9 Feb., 6/1. One is the chemist, another the decorator, a third the ‘firer.’
fig. 1823. Roscoe, trans. Sismondi’s Lit. Eur. (1846), I. xiv. 401.
| Thou know’st the daughter of Cydippe and | |
| Montano, who has such a store of herds, | |
| Silvia, the forest’s honour, the soul’s firer? |
b. An incendiary. Obs. exc. const. of.
1602. Carew, Cornwall, II. 156/2. Others … burned that fisher towne Mowsehole, the rest marched as a gard for defence of these firers.
1716. Glossogr. Angl. Nova, Boutefeu, a wilful Firer of Houses.
1841. J. T. Hewlett, The Parish Clerk, II. 136. The Tide-ender, a notorious smuggler, a frequenter of fights, the associate of the lowest of the low, a bully, and a firer of ricks, would have a great chance of being listened to by a jury of his neighbours.
2. One who discharges a fire-arm. Also applied to the fire-arm itself, usu. in comb., as single-firer, a gun that can be fired only once without reloading.
1868. Daily News, 6 Oct. One can never be sure that the firer has exercised sufficient caution in regard to the exclusion of bullets.
1885. Manch. Exam., 19 Oct., 5/5. The rifles can then be discharged … at the option of the firer.
1887. Scientific American (N. Y.), LVI. 21 May, 320/2. Theoretically it [magazine gun] has a great advantage over the single firer; but as a military arm, to be used in the heat and amid the excitement of battle, there is a firm belief in some quarters that it will be found wanting.
b. A contrivance for firing a gun. Only in comb., as quick-firer.
1887. Daily News, 10 March, 2/5. The rifle and its quick-firer should be ordinarily used in this way.
