afire
adjEtymology 13ᵗʰc., from Middle English afire, equivalent to a- (“on”) + fire. Figurative usage from late 14ᵗʰc.
1
On fire (often metaphorically).
- Derived terms
- chimney's afire, like a house afire, set afire, set the world afire
afire
adv/əˈfaɪɚ/
Etymology 13ᵗʰc., from Middle English afire, equivalent to a- (“on”) + fire. Figurative usage from late 14ᵗʰc.
1
On fire (often metaphorically).
- Zuleika blushed. “Yet,” she said more gently, “be sure they would all be not a little envious of YOU! Not one of them ever touched the surface of my heart. You stirred my heart to its very depths. Yes, you made me love you madly. The pearls told you no lie. You were my idol—the one thing in the wide world to me. You were so different from any man I had ever seen except in dreams. You did not make a fool of yourself. I admired you. I respected you. I was all afire with adoration of you. And now,” she passed her hand across her eyes, “now it is all over. The idol has come sliding down its pedestal to fawn and grovel with all the other infatuates in the dust about my feet.”1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, published 1912, →OCLC: