fire-breathing
adjEtymology From fire + breathing.
1
Of a fabled animal That expels fire from the mouth and nostrils.
Such as a dragon
- a fire-breathing dragon
- Medea for the loue of Iaſon, taught him how to tame the fire breathing braſſ feeted Bulls, and kill the mighty dragon that kept the golden fleece[.]1632, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, Oxford: Henry Cryps, page 548:
2 more examples
- No man could shake a finger at Beowulf. All the days of his life he had sought the path of right, escaped traps, killed foes, and ruled fairly. Now it was time for him to stand up to the fire-breathing worm.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 42:
- Then the bane of that people, the fire-breathing dragon, was mad to attack for a third time.1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 84:
2
Literary That emits or belches forth fire.
- The deadly fire-breathing Cannon roar, Sending destructive Heralds thro' the Field.1706, Charles Johnson, Ramelies: A Poem, London: Ben Bragg, page 8:
3
Idiomatic caustic, vitriolic or scathing.
- a fire-breathing rant
- Related terms
- dragonbreath, firebreath, firebreather